A Soldier's Diary

Cancun!

2006-03-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

I love vacation. The weather is so fantastic and the food where I am is just outstanding. Hope everyone is doing well, I will be home in about a week and I promise I will start posting more. I am about to be a lot less busy, so I will be starting to post more here and my dad and I will be starting a new blog for the two of us to voice our own opinions on things and have some debates highlighting some of the unique differences between my generation and his. Should be lots of fun and quite the adventure. Thanks to Andrew Milo for the help in getting things off the ground, we are really excited to be working with him. Other than that, I am going to enjoy some corona on the beach and maybe a nice cigar. Talk to you all soon.
Phil

Home for real!

2006-03-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry for the long time in between posts here. I wanted to let everyone know what I have been up to lately.

I am home! Sweet, huh? It has been really wonderful to be back in the states and to spend lots of time with my family and friends. Susan and I spent most of a week alone together at my new apartment and then we had three different celebrations of Christmas. It was awesome to say the least. I got to see my sister from far far away and her husband and the entire immediate family.

This past weekend I had my coming home party for my family and friends. My mom and dad put up lots of good food and beer and wine for us to celebrate the fun occcasion. It was just fantastic. My first couple weeks home could not have gone much better in a perfect world, and I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful time.

I also received a coming home gift from everyone. It was started by good friend Jeff and Susan, they collected money from bunch of friends and family and bought me a Wilson Combat CQB! My favorite pistol and wow was I excited. I was absolutely floored and so surprised. They did a great job of keeping it a secret, let me tell you! I have pictures of me opening the present and then lots of pics of me shooting it. It is FANTASTIC! Lucky me I have had some nice days to go shoot it, I will post some good pics soon.

Other than that, it has been busy for the most part. Christmas (times three) had me running around buying and wrapping presents. Lots of time with the fam and with Susan, and I was able to throw some darts with my good friends Luke and Jesse as well. Good stuff. Beer is delicious, btw. I am currently enjoying a Guiness as I type, which is just sweet. I feel a good beer every once in a while would have made my time in Iraq a little easier, but whatever, I am done and home.

I hope all is well with all my friends out there, thank you for all the kind words and comments from everyone. Lately there have been several people comment for the first time and I thank you for saying hello. I love comments and new people dropping by. I hope to start posting a lot more often now that I am more settled in, so stay tuned!

Thanks again for all the comments and for the support I have received from all over the world throughout my time in Iraq.

Phil

Home sweet home! (well... New Jersey...)

2006-02-23T16:20:00.000-05:00

Wow, I cannot believe we are finally in the US. It is unbelievable, very hard to describe how wonderful it is to be back in the states. There are so many things I am enjoying that were not available to me for the last year, it is really incredible. I am currently drinking a real Mountain Dew, eating Chinese food, and using internet that is like lightning, and about to call Susan from my new cell phone. Crazy, huh? Oh, and I am nursing a hangover. :) Yep, I had beer! It was delicious! Last night we were allowed to head down to the local bar and have a few drinks. Aside from the Guiness that I had in Ireland on the way home from Kuwait, this was the first itme I have had any type of alcohol since July - and that was two weeks of being able to drink. Before that, it was February of last year that I had my previous last drink. Needless to say, I had a one too many beers and I am paying for it today. But my unit was well behaved and that is the key.

Tomorrow I will be leaving Ft. Dix and spending some wonderful time with Susan and then my family. The circumstances aren't the greatest thing in the world, I will explain all that in another post in a few days. But the important thing is that I have some quality time to catch up with everyone. It is just awesome. I am going crazy waiting for the hours to tick by, but man am I excited.

I will hopefully have a little time on tuesday to post again and let you know how everything went this weekend. Hope everyone is well, stay tuned!
Phil

Guess where I am?

2006-02-19T12:20:00.000-05:00

I finally landed in Kuwait! Sweet! It is nice here, good food - I had McDonald's for the first time since July, it was delicious! I tell ya, you crazy civilians and all your wonderful little things you take for granted. I will be in NJ in the next few days, assuming nothing goes wrong with our flight out of here. Then it is only a few days of outprocessing there and I am on my way home. I am very excited. I should be having a beer within 72 hours if I am lucky. :)

Anyway, I hope everyone is well. I will post another update when I get to the US.
Phil

Quick update

2006-02-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

Over the next few weeks I am going to be posting very little. I have started the journey home from Iraq, but it takes a long time to get through everything. I am not allowed to tell you where I am, but I will be officially home in the next two weeks after we are finished with out-processing. Unfortunately, the internet is difficult to use where I am for long periods of time, so I wouldn't expect me to post very often. Just know that I am safe and I will be home soon.

There are many thanks to be given to certain individuals for supporting me, but those will have to wait until I have the time to post more. For now, thank you to everyone of my family and friends and readers who have been there for me with prayers and thoughts over the last 14 months. I will see you soon.

Phil

A heavy heart

2006-02-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

For that last few months, I have been mentioning Andrew Milo in my posts and comments. He has become a friend of mine through blogging (I believe through Jason) and has been a great support to me. He is always chimming in with encouraging comments and lately has been helping me with some much needed improvements to this blog and a future blog soon to come.

He has been there for me when I needed him, now I would like to help him out by sending you his way for a little support. Yesterday would have been his mother's birthday, had she not died of a brain hemorrhage at the young age of 54. He posted one of the best posts I have seen on any blog yesterday that hit me so hard, be prepared for a few tears at least - please head over and read it, and if you can, leave a comment for him showing him what great support he has from a great group of friends.

Thanks Andrew for helping to support me and for being a great friend to me. We all know you will meet with your mom again and we pray for your heavy heart today.

Phil

An ode to Susan on Valentine's Day

2006-02-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

Well, this is the second Valentine's Day in a row that I have been away from Susan - it has been over a year since I left home and sadly I have missed a lot of holidays with her. It has been a difficult year for both of us and hard on our relationship, but amazingly, through the good times and the bad times, we have stayed strong the whole way through. Today, on the holiday most closely affiliated with Love, I want to recognize my biggest supporter of all and show you just how much I love her. There have been many who have supported me in great ways that have been fantastic, but no one has done anywhere near what Susan has. Allow me to bring you through our journey together through a year in Iraq that is nearly coming to a close.

Susan and I met about two years before my deployment. We became good friends after I subletted an apartment in the same house as her. For various reasons, the time was not right for us to begin dating, but we developed a close friendship and had a great deal of fun together. In the Fall of 2004, I was preparing for this deployment and timing couldn't have been worse for us to even consider taking our friendship into this stage. I had considered the possibility of it on a few occasions, but I knew the chances of a fledgling relationship making it through a deployment were incredibly small, so I didn't attempt to start anything.

Finally, after Christmas I left home and began my deployment just a few minutes from Susan's parents house. She happened to be home even though she was supposed to have been far away, so my first night there I invited her over to the hotel my unit was staying at, and we had a long talk about life in general while cuddled up together. At some point in the night, I for some strange reason asked her, "Why have we never dated?" Neither of us really knew what was happening, but before my normally-rational brain had a chance to stop me, I kissed her. I am not sure if she was totally surprised by this - I am glad she liked it, though, and kissed me back. :) We had a long night talking that night (and maybe exchanging a few more kisses.) I left out something very important here originally. That night, I told Susan that I loved her and told her about my feelings for her. She told me she loved me, as well. Knowing I loved her... She told me she wanted to wait for me. I was very excited, but at the same time very hesitant for several reasons. I didn't know what to say, so I took a few days to think and pray about things.

For the next 6 days, I was staying near Susan's hometown, and she spent a lot of time with me. She was hoping I would jump at the chance to have her wait for me, but I was very concerned - not over trusting her or anything like that at all, but because I knew the stress would be horrible for her and I didn't want to put her through what I knew was going to be a really not-fun 14 months. To her dismay, it took me several days to make my decision. I finally told her that I loved her and I wanted her to wait for me, and I was not willing to risk losing her by telling her no. I knew right then, that if we could make it through something this long and difficult, we could make it through anything. And I certainly knew we would have help, from friends, family and most importantly from God. Amazingly, that was our start - 6 days together, and for two of those days she was far away. Crazy, huh? How in the world did we survive a deployment - one that has been the demise of many strong relationships in my company?

I left for Ft. Dix, NJ just a couple days after I told her yes - this was the easy part. I had a cell phone, so we were able to talk nearly every day for the two months I was there in New Jersey. We had a family day at the end before I left for Kuwait, so I flew Susan in from a lacrosse tournament (she was the trainer for the U of M lacrosse team) in Arizona and we spent about 24 hours together before I had to fly half way around the world to Kuwait. Amazing looking back on how little time we had together.

Meanwhile, Susan and I were developing our relationship, using the foundation of a great friendship as our base in combination with a great relationship with God. We prayed together and read a few books together that enhanced our Spiritual relationship greatly. We read a fantastic book about marriage and started our first steps toward our future marriage together. It was a great way for us to grow together, and I would say without it, we would never have lasted. At the beginning of summer 2005, Susan made a choice to put her life on hold for me. As if she wasn't already giving up enough, Susan decided not to move out to the East Coast like she had planned. She sacrificed so much in this one move - all for our relationship. I cannot stress how big of a move this was - I seriously doubt we would have been able to hold our relationship together if she had taken a full time job on the East Coast. She knew (as I did) that we were worth sacrificing so much for, that we were going to make it through this and we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.

This started a tough time for her - she had to move home, away from her friends, and away from the comforts of working a full time job in order to maintain our relationship. She started classes and worked part time, working around my schedule as best she could so we could have plenty of time for communications. She worked so hard to support me - sending me yummy foods, games, books, letters, emails, and lots of pictures. Her constant support helped me through the tough days, and made the easy days even easier. She gave up many long hours of time for me on the phone and on Instant Messenger. Over the next many months, she put up with weird hours from me, a stressful schedule and life of her own, and the pressures of a long wait for me to come home. Not to mention, just putting up with me in general.

I came home on leave for two weeks in July, but this was far too short. I think in retrospect, it made things harder (for her especially) because our time together was so wonderful. July was early in my deployment, so the end seemed to far away. As soon as I returned back to Iraq, I was placed on the road and my life went from low gear to light speed in a matter of days. Again, Susan stuck through the weird changes in my day as missions came up at the last minute and ruined planned time together. She delt with the stress of knowing I was in far greater danger than I had been before and handled it all admirably. She readjusted her own schedule on many occasions to fit mine as best she could. She continued to send me all kinds of encouragement in any form she could, but she was suffering badly at home. For the last 6 months, life has been very difficult on her due to me being here. I mentioned before I didn't want to put her through the hardship of a deployment, and it was this part of the deployment that I was talking about. The days and weeks dragged on, and her life at home was far from easy. Far away from friends, stuck in a class that is anything but fulfilling or challenging, and living on nearly no income, she fought through each day.

The stress on both her and I brought out hard times for us - the occasional fight, bad days, and the wear of being far away seemed ready to crush us at any moment. Our Spiritual relationship was suffering as well, I had moved to a new camp and the phone situation went drastically downhill, so we were not able to talk anywhere near as much. This has been a terrible thing for us, making our individual lives and our relationship more difficult. We also discovered a very strange phenomenon - being far apart for so long almost makes the other person imaginary - it is a really weird concept unless you have been in the situation, but talking on the phone and through Instant Messenger can only give you so much in a relationship. All I think about is holding her and telling her everything will be ok, but without that simple, every day thing for most couples, life gets very difficult very quick. The memories of the good times fade every once in a while, making it even harder to hold on to the good times promised in the future. I can understand why many couples give up during these months - without God's blessing and hand on a relationship, I cannot imagine a relationship holding together. I would say we have been watched over.

After all the hard times, we are now a mere two weeks apart. We have spent over 400 days apart, but we have made it. Susan's love for me and her confidence in our future has been an incredible blessing to both of us. She has never faltered through 14 months of being apart. She has constantly given up so much for me and for our relationship and placed our future in front of everything that mattered to her so we could survive, even when things got really rough. My words here today do not do her justice - she deserves a Medal of Honor for her sacrifice.

The best part of it all is that I love her more than I did a year ago, a month ago or a day ago. I love her for who she is and for who she sees in me. She is the woman of my dreams and (amazingly) she loves me and thinks of me the same way. I want to spend the rest of my life with her more than anything, though I suppose I can wait until September to officially tie the knot. We will be getting married in September this year, officially beginning our life together, but we have already made it through a lifetime of difficulties as a couple. I have no doubt we will see a purpose in all of this and our relationship and our marriage will be strong because of it.

Happy Valentine's Day, Susan. I wish I was able to be there by your side today, showing you how much I love you. I know it is hard for us to be apart on a day like this, but in two weeks we won't have to think about being apart again. We won't have to miss each other or wonder what it is like to feel a hug or a kiss. You will finally be able to see in my eyes and feel it in my voice how much I mean it when I say I love you. Thank you so much for being there for me these past 14 months. I mean every word I wrote here and more.

As usual, someone else said it better than I did, so I will end with one of Susan and I's favorite songs - it always gives me that wonderful warm feeling inside. (emphasis added because my eyes started getting a little watery about there...)

I set out on a narrow way many years ago

Hoping I would find true love along the broken road

But I got lost a time or two

Wiped my brow and kept pushing through

I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you aree

Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars

Pointing me on my way into your loving arms

This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through

I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you

But you just smile and take my hand

You've been there you understand

It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream led me to where you are

Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars

Pointing me on my way into your loving arms

This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you

Now I'm just rolling home

Into my lover's arms

This much I know is true

That God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road

That led me straight to you.

Rascal Flatts

Susan, I love you so much. Thank you, sweetheart for all that you are and all that you make me. I'll be in your arms in a few more days. Happy Valentine's day.
Ton of Love
Phil

Dodgeball: Iraq 2006

2006-02-14T07:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a new and crazy idea from soldiers bored out of their minds turned out to be enormous fun. A nearby pool, empty due to the colder temperatures of the Baghdad winter, was used as a perfect dodgeball arena in the Green Zone of Baghdad. My unit is preparing to head home, so we have had a few days off while packing up our things.

Dodgeball was recently made much more famous in the blockbuster hit Dodgeball: A true underdog story. The rules were kept just like the movie: Get blasted - you're out. Catch a ball throw at you - the other guy is out and a member of your team gets to come back in.

I have to say, this was by far the most fun and entertaining event I have been involved in - even beating the Pirate ship building contest of last summer at the US Embassy. A 4 on 4 best of three tournament was formed with 75% of my company involved including my company commander, my company 1st sergeant and most everyone else from the upper level leadership. The action was fast and furious, amazing feats of strength were performed - incredible dives, throws, catches and team plays caused cheers to rise up from the 50 or so soldiers looking on. Cheers from the fans ranged from, "Hit him in the head!" to "Put him in a body bag, Johnny!" (name that movie for a cookie) It attracted attention from our replacements as well, and they even joined in the fun with a few of their own teams during their downtime.

Call me sadistic, but the best part of watching dodgeball has to be when one poor bastard is all by himself and the other team has multiple players still in. All of the players on one team keep a ball and wait for the right moment - then they all release the ball at the same time in a "shotgun blast" barrage of terror! The poor guy has no choice but to flail around in a usually futile attempt while remembering "the 5 D's of Dodgeball: Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck, and... Dodge." The cheers rise up even louder if he is able to dance well enough to walk away unscathed.

Soldier's Frustrations

2006-02-14T06:47:00.001-05:00

I noticed an article in Stars and Stripes yesterday about a new vehicle designed to destroy IEDs, or roadside bombs. So far, the vehicle has had successes in testing, but it has not been shipped to Iraq for use in the field as of now. Blackfive has some commentary on the frustrations of soldiers in his post "Bureaucracy Kills" that focuses on this story. "One of the things that I've always said about the civilians that work for the Army is that they'll never have to sit in a foxhole (fighting position) with you...perhaps if they had to run Route Irish once in awhile, the Joint IED Neutralizers would have been sent en masse already." I'd be willing to bet they'd be screaming for the program to get a cattle prod in the butt, that's for sure.

Route Irish is the 8 mile stretch of road running between Baghdad's International Zone to Baghdad International Airport. I have been on this road many times, including last week which I talked about in this post here. (The picture is actually from a different road) In my opinion, this is one of the safest roads in all of Baghdad. I have commented briefly on it before, but the press seems to make a big deal about it on the news as if this road is the Wild Wild West when in reality, it is one of the many relatively safe roads in Baghdad. It is patroled like crazy and has many checkpoints both on and off the 4 lane highway that keep it safer than a typical street. I have done patrols only a few blocks from Irish - those roads make Route Irish look like Disney Land. Or did at the time - my familiarity with the level of danger is not nearly what it was when my squad was assigned to "IED hunting," but Route Irish has been relatively quiet for at least the year I have been here.

From what I have been told from the soldiers in my unit who relieved my squad, the roads in general are much safer than they were 5 months ago, but I have no way of showing you the actual level of enemy activity without being thrown in jail. It is too bad I can't - it would do a lot to show everyone the actual level of things and how it has shifted. Things always seem to improve when the Iraqi Army takes over areas and starts kicking ass. They are far better trained now, and knowing the customs, body language and speaking the language is quite the advantage for their troops to have when searching houses, vehicles or suspects.

New member to Milbogs

2006-02-14T05:10:00.000-05:00

I finally decided to add my blog to Mudville Gazette's "milblogs." When I get accepted and he puts me on his list, I will let you know. I have been putting it off to avoid attention, but I have been enjoying the fun of watching hits come in (a thousand last week!) to my blog and I figure when I get home I will have a lot more time to take this seriously. We'll see where I decide go from here, and as usual, I will keep you all updated.

Blood for Baghdad

2006-02-14T04:00:00.000-05:00

Since November my platoon, lead solely by the effors of my squad leader SSG Fabian, has donated more blood platelets that any other element of any size in either Iraq or Afghanistan! The only unit is Iraq to beat us is the brigade size element who works at the hospital, so I don't count them as competition. After today, we will have donated over 70 bags. That may not sound like a whole lot, but platelets are different than donating whole blood like at the Red Cross - according to the NCO in charge of the platelet draw in Baghdad, one bag of platelets is worth approximately 8 bags of whole blood. So we have donated the equivalent of approximately 580 bags of blood. For his actions, SSG Fabian has been recommended for an award, and my company will be receiving a plaque for recognition of our efforts. There is only one Combat Support Hospital in Iraq that has the capabilities to draw platelets, but it has to support both Iraq and Afghanistan. Anytime there has been a need for platelets in either Iraq or aAfghanistan in the last few months, SSG Fabian has brought in soldiers (mostly my squad and platoon members, with a few others from my company) to meet that need whenever possible. We would have donated more, but we only discovered the platelet draw program in November.

I went in this morning and donated for the last time, adding a few more bags of this much-needed blood. The picture on the right is me actually getting stuck and attempting to pretend it doesn't hurt. :) For more pics of me "getting stuck" (here is my favorite from my first time) or just pics of my time me in Iraq, head here.

**Important Update**
The two soldiers from my squad who gave blood after me had something happen while donating that highlights the importance of donating platelets. Soon after I left, soldiers came rushing into the donor center and grabbed the bags of platelets fresh out of my arm. Several med-evac helicopters flew in a few minutes later with vicitms of a nearby explosion who were in need of immediate medical attention.

Platelets are the sticky substance in blood. "When bleeding from a wound suddenly occurs, the platelets gather at the wound and attempt to block the blood flow." In a normal cut or even severe cuts or wounds, our own bodies usually produce enough platelets to stop the bleeding, but multiple gun shot wounds or amputations are all too common in war zones. Platelets are one way of helping to control massive bleeding. They are also used in patients that have trouble with blood clotting on their own due to difficiences in their blood or a disease.

For information on donating blood or platelets at home, check out this blog or go to the Red Cross homepage.

Skeleton anyone?

2006-02-13T12:13:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe people do this voluntarily!! Properly coerced, sure, I can imagine myself going head first down a bobsled track, but otherwise, no thanks! These guys are nuts! It's called "Skeleton" and is a head-first version of the Luge, which is almost as psychotic. Here's the schedule. I look forward to the Olympics for several reasons - Americans kicking butt, and morons pushing the laws of physics to the limit. Go USA!!

(AP Photo/Jeff McIntosh, CP)

Military recruiting numbers

2006-02-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

I continue to hear whining on military recruiting numbers being low, but in the military news paper "Stars and Stripes" I get the real news.

"The Army met 103 percent of its goal with 8,337 recruits; the Navy got 101 percent of its goal with 2,726 new sailors; the Marine Corps met 106 percent of its goal with 3,234 Marine recruits; and the Air Force got 101 percent of its goal with 2,195 new airmen, according to the DOD.

The Army National Guard also got 113 percent of its goal with 6,341 recruits, while the Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve each met 100 percent of their goal with 854 and 2,362 recruits respectively."

The Navy Reserve came up a little short - it's all Jason's fault! Thanks to G.I Korea Blog for pointing me to it.

Pathetic, attention starved boys - or good hockey?

2006-02-12T14:56:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's because we are a year into a deployment and haven't had contact with females in so long, but the USA women's hockey team has attracted 20 Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans, all cheering their hearts out! It is amazing. I stopped by and laughed at first,exclaiming, "Oh no! Women's hockey! You guys are pathetic! Get a girlfriend!" - I had the distinct pleasure of watching the first women's hockey debut in 1998 and it was... slow... Ok, I'll come out and say it, it sucked. It was like watching a middle school boys team. However, they have had many years of developement, and the teams this year are amazing! Night and day in comparison, I enjoyed watching it so much I decided to get online and tell you about it. Canada and USA are sweet, kicking the crap out of everyone so far. If you are not doing anything of importance I highly recommend checking out the olympics and watch the USA kick the crap out of Germany.

A conversation with my interpreter

2006-02-12T10:05:00.000-05:00

**Welcome back, Mudville readers! Feel free to leave me a comment!**

One of my new favorite blogs is the Strategy Page - The post is fantastic, but I wanted to comment on a particular section on why terrorist activity has been down lately in Iraq. Commenting on the success of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police, the author writes:

"This success has made it easier, or just possible, for Sunni Arabs to join the army and police. Tribal chiefs in Anbar province have openly urged their young men to apply for these jobs, and thousands have done so. Al Qaeda and Sunni Arab groups still hostile to the government, attack these recruits at great peril. The tribes quickly go for revenge attacks when their people are hurt, and the terrorists are in a bad situation because of this shift in attitudes. There are fewer places where the terrorists can maintain workshops and safe houses. "

I was having a conversation with my favorite interpreter here at lunch yesterday and he was explaining why things in Ramadi have turned really ugly for terrorists. I will paraphrase his words as best I can. He explained that the horrible suicide bombing in Ramadi that killed 70-80 Sunnis waiting to be interviewed for police jobs turned out to be an important turning point for Ramadi. Up until this point, many Ramadi civilians had supported al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups operating there. He said a majority of them as I remember. The article stresses in the first paragraph the importance of the residence of Ramadi doing "something they had never publicly done: They blamed al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent movement led by Abu Musab Zarqawi."

The important part the news article doesn't discuss is that many of the men killed in this particular suicide bombing were from the same tribe. The main tribal leaders of the city had decided to make a move against al Qaeda, encouraging the people to stand up to unnecessary violence against civilians and encouraged younger Sunnis to volunteer for the Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Army. Zarqawi's reaction was swift and terrible, but what our interpreter told us is the city united against Zarqawi in following weeks due to the strong sense of "family" as we would call it. Their tribes are very close, and killing many of the same tribe and several leaders from different tribes was a costly mistake for al Qaeda because the city no longer feels Zarqawi fights for them.

This is the attitude we are looking for to turn the tide in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq has done all they can to kill as many Iraqis as possible, it is time for the Iraqi people to throw them out!

"A hundred bucks no liberal can actually define what an assault rifle is."

2006-02-12T06:32:00.000-05:00

I was at Free Republic, searching around for something interesting and ran across a link to this news story about banning "assault weapons" in Maryland. The article is outrageous, but I will leave my commentary out until the end when you understand more.

I doubt that many of you are aware of it, but I happen to own an "assault rifle" or as I like to refer to it, an EEEEVIL BLACK RIFLE!! I despise with a bitter passion the debates over assault rifles because 90% of Americans are completely clueless over what exactly they are. And how could they understand? As my online, high-speed encyclopedia points out, "Classification of assault weapons has proven extremely difficult since there is no basic functional difference between the types of firearms targeted for these bans and many very common hunting and target-shooting firearms." (emphasis added) For instance, my EEEEVIL BLACK RIFLE!!! shoots .308 caliber bullets which are def. in the top five most commonly used calibers for rifle hunting. Equipped with a 5 round magazine, my rifle is legal to hunt with and makes perfect sense to do so. The main difference between my rifle and a semi-automatic hunting rifle is the color (black) and a pistol grip. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! Well, I will attempt to shed some light on the situation and explain why assault weapons are not evil and touch on the Federal Assault Weapons Ban as well.

First, assault weapons were never fully banned under the Assault Weapons Ban. I bought my CETME (legally) a year before the ban was lifted in Sept. 2004. I walked into a gun show, had a nice guy check my FBI background, and walked out with my rifle that day. It had certain accessory changes to it, but it still functioned EXACTLY the same as it would have without those accessories as a rifle. Keep in mind, my E.B.R. is semi-automatic. It fires once everytime I pull the trigger, just like any semi-automatic pistol or rifle. Fully automatic rifles have been highly regulated since 1934 and are not the same thing at all. My M-16 that I have here in Iraq is illegal without a special permit in any state in the U.S. because it is fully automatic. Same with my M-249 light machinegun.

They were regulated heavily, manufacturing of certain parts and importation of certain parts was banned, magazines holding more than ten rounds were not allowed to be manufactured, but "note that the law did not ban the possession or sale of assault weapons or high-capacity magazines that were manufactured before the ban took effect. This provision for "pre-ban" weapons created an artificially inflated price point in the free market for such items, a disruption in the market that lasted until the ban sunset." (emphasis added) Basically what that is saying, is that the ban did little except make manufacturers stop producing high capacity magazines, certain parts, and certain weapons. I had no trouble buying high capacity magazines because I could purchase "pre-ban" magazines or bayonets or whatever else they banned. What good does that do? Um, not a whole lot. It was annoying and more expensive, but that was about it. As the encyclopedia points out, "...assault weapons are identical in function to just about any semi-automatic firearm." Accessories were banned, such as bayonet lugs (it holds the bayonet in place), folding stocks, and flash surpressors were not allowed, but "manufacturers complied with the law by removing the banned items" and then sold the guns legally.

Doing a few minutes of research into what the ban attempted to regulate gives me this eerie feeling of complete and total confusion. Why is it bad to have a pistol grip on a semi-automatic shotgun? Because it looks scarier? How freakin ridiculous. The bayonet lug on assault rifles is my favorite - what idiot would use a bayonet on the end of a rifle to kill someone? Why bring a long, clunky rifle around and then use a bayonet? Frickin morons. Proving once again, this ban was about "assault weapons" being SCARY!!! Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are people out there who think that me owning a 30 round magazine is unnecessary, but like I said before, it is easy to get "pre-ban" high capacity magazines anyway. I feel the best word for people who make laws like this is at Seeing double: "Asshats!" The only rational part I can see in the ban was telescopic or folding stocks - I suppose if you wanted to commit a crime with an "assault weapon" this would make it easier to conceal under a coat. The rest of it was ridiculous and politicized with the use of the SCAARRY word "ASSAULT WEAPON!!"

A government study was done on the ban in 1999. (on page three, you can see all the SCARY features of an AK-47!) It brings up similar things I explained earlier about the impact on manufacturers and the gun market, but in my opinion is quite hilarious. "Although the guns banned by this legislation were only rarely used in gun crimes before the ban, supporters felt that these weapons posed a threat to public safety because they are capable of firing many shots rapidly." Again, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! Hunting rifles could also fire many shots rapidly - you just need a larger magazine. The study said it hadn't had enough time to make a conclusion about the impacts of the ban on crime.

From a criminals perspective, you can easily understand why assault rifles are not generally used in gun crimes. They are way too big to conceal, and a pistol is just as effective if not more so at close ranges as a weapon. If you want to kill someone at long ranges, you aren't going to use an AK-47 - I could accurately shoot maybe out to 200 meters with one. It is not known for its accuracy. However, a good hunting rifle can accurately shoot well past 600 meters. Competition rifles are easily able to shoot past 1000 meters.

I have always been confused with gun control - all it seems to do is limit me (a responsible gun owner) from purchasing what I wish to defend myself. Isn't that what the constitution gives me the right to do? I know Michigan's constitution is pretty clear: Article I, Section 6: "Every person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the state." I know that Michigan has criminals who are not capable of using guns properly. Let's stop the crime there - preventing me from purchasing shotguns with pistol grips or rifles with bayonet lugs is not going to reduce crime.

Now, to the article. The quotes from the article are very revealing. There is not one person quoted who disagrees with gun control, and all the quotes put "assault weapons" in a very bad light. My favorite was from a Baltimore Police Chief when he said police seized 22 assault weapons last year while collecting 4,500 other guns. "That may not sound like much, but if you've ever seen one of these things in person, they're absolutely frightening." Asshat! You collected 22 SCCAAAARRRY rifles out of 4500 other guns!?!! Did these 22 out of 4500 create more crime, or cause more deaths, or kill ANYONE or were they just scary looking? (breathe, Phil) A Lt. Col. in the Reserves says, "Assault weapons have one purpose and one purpose only: That is to kill human beings." Ridiculous! I shoot mine all the time - I haven't killed anyone! They are fun to shoot if done responsibly, and if I needed to, I could defend my life with it. More than likely, I would grab my pistol!! My good friend Jeff owns two assault rifles, does that make him a murderer! Is he a criminal? Asshat is quickly becoming a new favorite word.

(Updated) At first I thought "a bill that would set minimum sentences for those who use assault weapons to commit crimes" made sense. Jason jumped in with his two cents and pointed out something I hadn't thought of. "Extra penalties for people who commit crimes with assault rifles. Seriously, if you kill someone with a pistol or assault rifle, what's the friggin' difference?" An excellent point, the victim is still dead regardless of how scary the rifle looked.

Penalize the ones who use these weapons irresponsibly or for criminal use as you would with any other gun. The rest of the 99% of us who use the guns for target shooting or defense should be allowed to own them!

For a much better written post on gun control, check out American Partisan. " If one is truly interested in a reduction in violence and crime, then logic demands that our efforts be focused on those that commit the crimes."

A Free Republic member posted a liberal's definition of:
"Assault weapon (u SALT WEP uhn) noun
1. Any class of weapon designed to be operated from a semi-rotated position, having one or more of the following features:
a. a stock which is of dark-colored synthetic material, and is therefore scary;
b. a device for the attachment of a bayonet on the end, facilitating the weapon's potential use in untold numbers of unspeakable crimes despite lack of evidence to any such use ever having occurred;
c. any device for the storage and provision of ammunition which extends below the aforementioned scary stock, making the weapon therefore scarier;
d. a "pistol grip," which facilitates the aforementioned semi-rotated operation, thereby making the brandishment and/or operation of the weapon more sinister;

2. Any class of weapons which at the present, or at some time in the future, can be presented to an uninformed populace as fearsome or dangerous, thereby gaining a political advantage.

See -- defining an assault weapon isn't that hard."

Shocking...

2006-02-11T19:19:00.000-05:00

Just in case you thought I was talking out of my butt, these soldiers also thought "Over There" sucked. My favorite quotes:
"'Thank God that's over,' said a master sergeant as the credits rolled."
'"A flag to mark an i.e.d.? What is that -- like don't land here?"'
"The Camp Murray soldiers dismissed the military firefights as "bull---- " ("Where is the air support? Where is the armor support?"), the dialogue as contrived ("It sucked") and plot drivers as pure Hollywood."

What a disgrace... If only I could print the actual comments from my squad. A little too "R" rated for this blog. Thanks to Jason for the link.

Phil

Dang! I missed it!

2006-02-11T12:04:00.000-05:00

This is old news for sure, but apparently Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow! That bastard! "Today on the Knob as I'm doing my job, I don't like this likeness of me. It's my shadow I see. Six more weeks of mild winter there will be."

If anyone out there hasn't seen Ground Hog Day, you are missing one of the best comedies of all time!

And if you missed it in the comments, I named off my nicknames at the bottom of this page - and then a lightbulb hit me and I searched for that dang Ground Hog who is ruining my spring!

:)

Classic!

2006-02-11T11:43:00.000-05:00

I am a big fan of sarcasm, and Scott at Scrapple Face has a great way of getting his point accross using it. His most recent post comments on President Bush and what he says in public and in private.

The Coservative Voice says:
"During President Ronald Reagan's time in the White House, there was a similar mishap with a microphone. Reagan was about to give a radio address to the nation and thought he was testing for a sound level. Not knowing that he was on the air, President Reagan said,"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I have signed legislation to outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." Of course, he was joking, but he did make some liberals cringe in fear for a moment."

Another must read

2006-02-11T06:12:00.000-05:00

Again, this one is a little long, but worth every second. The American Enterprise has a great piece (which I found, once again, via The Dawn Patrol) by Karl Zinsmeister about various aspects of how things are going as a whole for Iraq. He answers tough questions regarding Iraqi involvement in security and terrorism, the image of the United States, troop morale, world support of terrorism, quoting various statistics and polls and also compares Operation Iraqi Freedom to a few other wars that the US has had a major part in. I highly recommend it.

Also, I was appalled reading this report on the LA Times front page smear on Michael Yon. As you are aware, I am a huge fan of Michael Yon and feel he speaks from a soldiers perspective rather than the elitist, ignorant perspective of the vast majority of journalist. The LA Times is a great example of this type of reporting, and anyone wishing to get a very negative view on things here in Iraq or Afghanistan (or Pres. Bush) can find it in either the LA or the NY Times.

Pictures from my promotion ceremony at the cross sabers

2006-02-10T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally was able to acquire the pictures from my promotion! My LT ran off somewhere for a few days and he had the pics, so it took a lot longer than expected. (He is the gigantic one in the picture pinning my rank on)

I requested it be done at the cross sabers, since it is my favorite place in Baghdad. I really find it incredible there, and what better place to have any sort of ceremony? To let you see how this works, I will place the pics in order - first, I am called up in front of my LT. He reads my orders for my promotion and then starts taking the rank off my hat. Normally, he would take the rank off my collar as well, but I am wearing body armor, so he takes it off that instead. Then he puts the new rank (Sergeant!) on my body armor and my hat. I salute him, (check out my new glasses! dork!) do an about face and everyone claps. Then I recite (or stumble through) the NCO creed and everyone bows down before me.... :) I mentioned getting my blood rank a few posts ago - this had to happen after the ceremony when we got back to our camp, since we aren't allowed to remove our body armor when we are outside our camp.

Andrew Milo asked about the added responsibility of being a NCO. Well, that is kind of a difficult question to answer due to my situation. As of now, I am not in charge of anyone, but I was given the opportunity to be in charge of a two day class for the company who is relieving my company. That was based more on my ability as a driver than my new promotion though. The rank obviously gives me a little more credibility, so people listen more, but apart from that it is all about maintaining a professional attitude and doing the job right.

Normally, in a combat arms unit, or in this case, a Military Police unit, a sergeant is in charge of a team. Including the sergeant, there will be 3 or 4 members to a team. Leading these soldiers involves self sacrifice, hard work, and many abilities including properly motivating, disciplining and rewarding soldiers for their respective behaviors. On top of that, the sergeant is an example to lower ranking soldiers and must lead as such. I am a driver as of now, but when I return home I will be in charge of a team when I get to my home unit. Or should be, things are crazy with my home unit since we are being changed to a scout unit. It will certainly be a great experience for me, both trying and rewarding. But I look forward to the challenge very much. First, though... getting home!

Phil

On the top of the list!

2006-02-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

Fantastic! Mrs. Greyhawk put me on the top of the list this morning for the Dawn Patrol over at the Mudville Gazette. Welcome back, Mudville readers! Feel free to leave me a comment or two and enjoy my blog.

Sgt P

Update: I checked out another blog linked by the Dawn Patrol and found Stacy who is also in Baghdad. Apparently her unit is way more hooked up than mine - she got to drink beer the other night! Man, that is just not fair! My Company Commander is sitting next to me and says that it can happen in Iraq, but only if someone way high up there authorizes it. Oh well... one more week and I will get to drink lots of beer! :)

Thanks

2006-02-09T16:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone. You guys are great! It is much appreciated.

Maybe this is where Val went...

2006-02-09T16:19:00.000-05:00

Val has been missing for a while now, maybe a month or two. I think I figured out where: undercover. "Authorities on Wednesday introduced the 8-month-old former stray cat that posed as a would-be patient while police investigated a college student accused of treating pets without a license." That's a pretty good description of Val - I would guess 8 months old. The question of course, is how did Val (or "Fred" as they now call him) get to Brooklyn? Well, for an undercover kitten, I guess it is more important to keep the secrets under wraps. I may have blown Val's cover already... But it looks like greatness is in Val/Fred's future. "Joyce Clemmons of the nonprofit Animal Care and Control, which rescued Fred, predicted the kitten had a future in law enforcement. 'He's going to be the detective for the animal world,' she said."

Go get 'em Val!

The internet is so cool...

2006-02-09T16:16:00.000-05:00

I am amazed by the internet everyday. Today when I checked out my stats and where people are coming from to my blog, I noticed that you can find me by searching on google. That is just awesome.

Keep that K-pot on your head, soldiers!

2006-02-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

I have heard stories like this before, but never from a source so close. A soldier from the 3rd ID was hit by a sniper in the helmet and wasn't even knocked unconscious! Check out the whole story over at Black Five.

My old roomate, Frank, asked me about the new improved army helmets a long time ago and I kept forgetting to give him some info. Well, Frank, here you go. The first kevlar helmet I was issued was incredibly uncomfortable and unstable as far as I was concerned as well as anyone with any experience with it whatsoever. This first picture shows the MILES system (think laser tag, but with real weapons using blanks) which adds to the instability - it is horrifying trying to lay down with that on your head in the first place - add on a few pounds from the MILES system and you're screwed. In fact, I would say it was an insult to helmet design and I cannot believe the ridiculous helmet was kept the way it was until 2003 or 2004. For a rant about this, check out this site here. Most soldiers dispised the single chin strap design and took it off whenever they could. There is a picture in the rant that shows the German army (shocking, I know, the Germans coming up with something sweet) had a three point chin strap LOOONG ago. What the heck is wrong with our Army that they put up with the horrible single chin strap for so long?

The design inside the helmet was uncomfortable as well - I had to purchase foam "doughnut" inserts to give it extra cushion for my sensative skull to make it wearable. Basically it is a soft circular piece of foam that you shove into the helmet to add padding to it. Two of them stacked on top of each other helped a lot. But the helmet was unstable at best - it would fall over my eyes at any sudden movement, especially lying down in the prone position.

Well, a couple years back, the military decided to start issuing new helmets with sweet 4-point chin straps. I love mine - most definitely one of the most important improvements the Army needs. I received mine in Kuwait when we got a bunch of new equipment. The chin strap is fantastic, and has a buckle instead of that obnoxious metal snap. The inside has removable/adjustable pads that velcro to the inside of the helmet. You can take them out to wash them or move them around to fit your head. It is sweet. Plus, it has a mount (see left pic) for Night Vision goggles and a high speed strap down for a set of goggles. Love it.

Running or lying down is the best test for me to see if the new system works, and I have to give it huge amounts of praise. The helmet sticks to your head like glue and is very comfortable. It is light, comfortable, and stable, and apparently is does a pretty dang good job at protecting soldiers heads as long as they keep on.

Phil

Where to go from here...

2006-02-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

It has been over a year since I started this blog, and I must say it was a great thing for me. It has been awesome to see more people drop by each month and leave comments. I really haven't taken it all that seriously, as far as attempting to make this into more than a diary for family and friends. I think one thing that held me back is knowing that if I attracted the wrong people I would receive negative comments like the one from Captain Fogg a few weeks ago. I didn't want to deal with things like that, and I wanted to leave comments open for friends and family to say hi as often as they wanted. I also didn't have the time to post as often as I would have liked, and the prevented me from attracting loyal readers due to the length of time in between posts.

I had no intention of making new friends, either. The list of blogs under "My Friends" have been added due to their interesting and encouraging comments on my blog, they have been a blessing brought to me through friends of my dad and random readers like Jason and Andrew who just happened to run by my blog.

The question I have been pondering is what to do with blogging when I get home. My dad and I were just talking about starting a blog together, highlighting generation differences and creating differing viewpoints in relation to politics and faith, but we are just in the beginning phases of things. I am not sure what to do with this blog, either. I hope to keep in touch with new found friends and make many more when I return home over the wonderful world of blogging - either through a continuation of this blog or starting a new one with my dad. The question is where to go from here...

Breaking news: Riots in the midwest!

2006-02-09T13:10:00.000-05:00

I am still rolling on the floor! "Like a pot of bratwurst left unattended at a Lambeau Field pregame party, simmering tensions in the strife-torn Midwest boiled over once again..."

This is one of the funniest things I have ever read.

You guessed it...

2006-02-09T02:35:00.000-05:00

One of my all-time favorite bands U2 won a bunch of Grammys - total domination - awesome. Their album "How to dismantle an atomic bomb" is one of my favorites they have done in their amazing career- a close race between "The Jushua Tree" and "Achtung, Baby!" Weird - music from them is playing on the TV in the next room. If you head down to the bottom of the page, you'll notice a little blurb on Union Station and Alison Krauss who also kicked butt. Another favorite of mine, Alison is waiting for Susan to break up with me before making her move as she is frightened of challenging Susan to a fight to the death. I think it is clear the Grammy Awards ought to be judged by me... maybe not.

Bands that should have won if they didn't because they-are-my-favorites-and-I-am-a-super-sweet-Grammy-judge: Nickel Creek, Josh Groban, and - you guessed it: Frank Stallone! (You're welcome, Luke)

Phil

A must read

2006-02-08T18:07:00.000-05:00

My dad pointed me to a great read over at Victor David Hanson's blog. He takes Operation Iraqi Freedom and compares it to various other wars and brings out some great points.

"There are many misconceptions about how wars cease. Rarely do they end from arbitration. Instead, peace most often follows a clear acknowledgment of victory or defeat which changes the old order. The ruin of the Confederacy, the utter destruction of imperial Japanese, Italian, and Nazi power in World War II, the collapse of the Soviet Union — these led to lasting peace. Even rarer adjudicated peaces often grow out of massive defeat, such as the destruction of the Russian Baltic fleet at Tsushima in 1905, which brought the Russo-Japanese War to a close, or the encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army in 1973, which doomed their side in the Yom Kippur War."

Check out the whole piece, the guy has a lot of great things to say.

Phil

Happy Birthday, Susan!

2006-02-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

Today is Susan's birthday! Leave a birthday comment for Susan if you can - she has to work all day and then has class - poor girl. Happy birthday, sweetheart!

Mudslide!

2006-02-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

I figured out where all my hits are coming from! The Mudville Gazette is a "Milblog" and does a daily thing called the "Dawn Patrol" where Mrs. Greyhawk rounds up the latest War on Terrorism news from military bloggers and the major news sources. She linked to my story about taking new guys out driving. Pretty cool. Thanks to James and to my Dad for giving me the heads up. The new stats counter is pretty sweet - if only I knew how to really use it.

Welcome to my blog Dawn Patrollers - sorry for not realizing it earlier. :) I was so confused as to where all my readers were coming from...

Phil

Unbelievable

2006-02-07T23:48:00.000-05:00

You would think in our day and age the implication behind this cartoon is a little harsh, but I kid you not, some of the extreme crazies out there are really advocating this sort of thing. If you haven't been paying attention to the news, Michelle Malkin has a ton of pics and insight. Our politically correct media has gotten really ridiculous when they are too petrified of causing either a violent reaction or protests in our own country to even show the actual cartoons. Check out those eeeevil cartoons! The reaction by the extremists is ridiculous - signs saying "Behead those who insult Islam" or threatening another 9/11. Michelle points out "Cruci-fixin's" - I wish this was a sick joke, but they seem to have no reason to be PC about showing that! This is not politically correctness - I think they worry about violence in out own country over this silliness.

I just don't get it... People are being killed over CARTOONS!! What the heck is wrong with these people! When a culture is this intolerant of ANY dissent or free speech, it is a very frightening thing.

A coming home present?

2006-02-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

Check this baby out from Gagdetell! Any beer drinker or gadget lover would love that thing! Or for gadget lovers like Andrew Milo, here is the camera section. This website is way too cool.

Phil

New addition to my blog

2006-02-07T22:40:00.000-05:00

Hey, I don't know if anyone noticed, but i added a stats counter on the left side of my blog just a couple days ago. I was curious as to how many people come by - it may be set up wrong or something, it seems high to me. I had 130 visitors today - I really don't think I have anywhere near that many visitors. I will check out the settings, but for now, it is just fun to see how the traffic is for the day. I wish I would have had it up this whole year to give me an idea about how many visitors I have had. Oh well, no big deal. We've hit 200! In 4 days! Sweet...

Phil

Tag - I'm it!

2006-02-07T17:20:00.000-05:00

Landry Fan tagged me - I hope you get my tag if I tagged you! If so, place this on your blog, fill it out with your answers and let me know!

4 Jobs I Have Held In My Life:
1. Contruction for my dad - since I was old enough for him to exploit me for his child labor!!!
2. Dishwasher - yep, I'm pretty cool.
3. Sales rep - selling knives!
4. Military - U.S. Army - tank driver, then military police, soon to be scout or possibly Military Intelligence.

4 Places I Have Lived:
1. Backwoods, Michigan
2. Smalltown, Michigan
3. Biblebelt, Michigan
4. Hippie-collegetown, Michigan

4 TV Shows I Love To Watch:
1. The Sopranos
2. Family Guy
3. Deadwood
4. Futurama

4 Places I Have Been On Vacation:
1. Mexico
2. Costa Rica
3. Dominican Republic
4. Iraq - a long, long, loooonnnggg paid vacation!

4 Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Michelle Malkin
2. Power Line
3. AR15.com
4. If I had sound: Home Star Runner

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Anything but chicken!!! :)
2. Crab legs
3. Spaghetti with garlic bread
4. Guiness Extra Stout :)

4 Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Cuddling with Susan
2. Cuddling with Susan
3. Cuddling with Susan
4. Cuddling with Susan

4 People I am tagging:
1. Susan, if she only had a blog...
2. Andrew Milo
3. Seeing Double
4. Jack Bernath

My last day of work...

2006-02-07T11:55:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I think I just worked my last night. I think... things change quickly around here, but that means I will have lots of time to do a whole lot of nothing. We still have a week or more here, so I am going to concentrate on sleeping a lot and updating my blog often. Aren't you excited? I know I am!

Rewarding work

2006-02-04T04:51:00.001-05:00

I had a few realizations the last week of how starved I am to actually have more responsibility than just myself. A couple days ago my squad had to take some of our replacements to another camp through the "Red Zone" as we like to call it. These guys are fresh off the plane and this is their first time outside the International Zone (or Green Zone), so it is kind of a big deal for them. You can see the slight nervousness in all of them - we all had the same thing, but my squad has run this particular route probably 30 or 40 times and we know it to be a very safe road. I am (or was) the lead driver in all of our convoys, which I enjoy and miss very much. We get two new guys in our truck along for the ride, but before we leave I make a decision that turns out to be a lot of fun and very rewarding for me and the new guys. I ask the new guy if he wants to drive! He was not expecting this at all - especially not leading the convoy on his first run out. "You've got to learn sometime, plus I'll be right behind you to coach you through it." It was awesome - the kid paid attention and listened as I explained how driving in the Red Zone works and then we were off. The best compliment to the kids driving came fom my gunner when we got to the camp - he looks down from the turret and sees me in the back seat and goes, "What are you doing back there? Who's driving?" He didn't even notice the change - pretty sweet.

A day or two before this, I was put in charge of a little driver's training along with a "guided tour" of the Green Zone. I really enjoy teaching people and passing on the knowledge necessary to get the job done - I cannot tell you how much more rewarding it was in comparison to just taking care of myself.

Phil

P.S. I just realized how easy it is to post pictures in my stories - I am really dumb for not realizing it before. :)

It's a start...

2006-02-03T14:30:00.000-05:00

I got bored and updated colors and messed around with my page a bit... Hmm... well it looks a little better but my knowledge of webdesign is incredibly small...

I will continue when I have time.

Hope you like it!

Phil

Promoted - finally!

2006-01-30T14:26:00.000-05:00

I was finally promoted officially today to the rank of Sergeant. I had my orders over two weeks ago, but we were waiting for a friend of mine to get his orders for his promotion before actually going through with the ceremony - that way we didn't have to do two. So today, I officially have the rank pinned on and I recited the NCO creed (I have to admit I stumbled through it a little since it was by memory) in front of my squad out at the Cross Sabers. Nerve racking...

But I got through it and then my rank was then crushed into my collar bones in a really weird tradition that I do not understand: the rank is pinned on to the collar of my uniform, then they remove the brass pieces on the underside of the rank so the pointy end is exposed and pointing at your collar bone. Then whoever chooses can come up to me and hit me as hard as they wish directly on the rank and drive it into my skin. It is called "getting your blood rank" and is supposed to symbolize never getting demoted... or something like that. I think basically it is an excuse for people to release some tension without fear of retaliation. :) It hurt as you might imagine...

Anyway, life is good - outta here in a few weeks!

Phil

So sad...

2006-01-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

Capt. Fogg responded to a comment from me in the comments section on his own blog, saying that he refuses to come back here. As if we didn't already think the guy was a little off his rocker, his reponse was this:

"Phil, Really, your faith in the Government's veracity is touching, your reliance on the standard straw men and the brown-shirt rhetoric make me nostalgic for Berlin in the 30's, but your Blog left enough of an impression on me that I will decline a further dose. I would rather get my lies undiluted and straight from the horses mouth, as it were." Seriously, I am not sure what the heck he is talking about in some places, his jargon is a little too ellitist left for my apparently small brain. As Jason said, "When you're done with that dooby, give me a hit."

My latest response (apart from commenting on other posts on his blog) was a little more harsh, maybe too harsh... I hope I didn't overstep any boundaries, but frankly, the guy's comment was a lot worse than my response.

Anyway, my guess is he will not be coming back, especially after Jason, Jeff and myself pointed out the ridiculouness of his original comment in addition to it being incredibly rude. I will continue to visit his blog to encourage him to drop by again, plus he needs a conservative viewpoint to keep his unhinged Bush-bashing in check! Seriously, I have never been fully exposed to anyone quite this far left - and I lived in ANN ARBOR!!!

Yikes....

Phil

A long response to a short comment

2006-01-28T06:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday or the day before, Captain Fogg of Human Voices dropped by my blog and left a comment that you can find in my little post about Canada's elections. Now, my blog is not meant to be a true political blog, it is meant for friends and family to check up on what I am doing in Iraq or my thoughts on current things happening here or in the world of politics. So I don't want to turn this into a fight, but I think his comments elicit a response.

The part I want to respond to goes like this, "Of course you may like economic collapse and you may like the idea of dying or getting your balls shot off for nothing..." A little rude, to say the least, the part about dying or getting my balls shot off was... unnecessary? But it offered me the opportunity to explain a few things that might clear up captain fogg's view of me, the Army and Iraq.

As far as economic collapse, maybe he meant Iraq? It wasn't Canada... At least I don't think... Unless he was saying Canada is going to collapse economically because of the conservatives who moved into power? Hmm, well it doesn't matter. That isn't the part I want to talk about.

I am going to assume he meant joining the military when he mentioned getting my balls shot off. The reasons I joined the Army had nothing to do with a wish to get killed or to have my balls shot off, actually. I know, I know, you are shocked. Seriously, I really don't want to get shot and I may want to procreate someday, so I will keep my balls intact if I can. However, I did make a choice a little over three years ago to join the Army and put myself at a risk of possibly getting into dangerous situations. This past year I have had several close calls involving my life - I have had bullets come wizzing by me way too close for comfort. I've had mortar rounds land within a few hundred meters of me, and I witnessed two "roadside bombs" or IEDs go off in front of me - one within 60 meters of me. The question I guess is why would anyone willingly volunteer for the military when what I have been through is very small in comparison to what many soldiers see in Iraq?

I joined the Army for several reasons. Yoda says to Luke in his training, "Adventure, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things!" Well then, Master Yoda, a Jedi I am not! One of my reasons for joining was to prove to myself that I could go through something really difficult and do it well. To challenge myself more than ever before. I had a 15 week basic training combined with Tank school - it was Hell and I loved it! I got into great shape, kicked some other soldiers butts, shot a bunch of guns, drove some tanks, and even got to fire 6 rounds out of the 120mm main gun of an M1A2 abrams. On top of that, I was part of something huge and incredible that made a difference in my life. It taught me many things that I will keep with me my entire life. The seven Army values I will hopefully never forget: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

I joined also because I feel my country has given me many opportunities and things we all take for granted, I wanted to serve that country in return. School was a big part of me joining - when I get home I will continue my education and the military will pay for almost all of it. That is pretty amazing to me. Another reason was September 11th - I joined about a year after, knowing that I might end up in Iraq or Afghanistan.

As far the "for nothing" part of the comment: I feel our mission in both countries has had a profoundly positive impact on both the people of both countries and the safety of our own. The last year in Iraq has allowed me to be part of history - I have witnessed a gradual change here, and I can say without a doubt things are much safer and the people are happier here now then when I got here. That is an amazing thing, and I will never forget my experiences here in this country. If Captain Fogg feels Iraq is going collapse economically, well I can say for sure that is what al Qaeda in Iraq wants to happen. Civil war is their goal between the three dominant religious sects here would lead to that, but their strangle hold on this country is being gradually loosened by military actions from the coalition forces here and now by the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police. The Anbar province was the latest key to that and the change there is nearing a complete 180. The Iraqis just elected their own government and they will now have 4 years to show what a democratically elected government can do.

It will be a long road, but I am willing to bet it will work in a way Capt. Fogg is unwilling to think possible. He says in one of his posts on his blog that, "the argument that a country like Iraq will embrace a liberal democracy that respects the individual rights we hold to be self evident, is either wishful thinking or a blatant and cynical lie." I disagree completely. Especially in a country like Iraq that has had their rights trod upon by a dictator for decades - they are loving their freedom to choose who they want in power. It was quite evident in the last election when voters came out even when it was predicted that horrific violence would occur. Can you imagine how few voters would go to the polls in the US if they were told they had a good chance of dying? Voting is only a very small part of respecting individual rights and embracing democracy, but we have pretty positive evidence pointing toward it. In the same post he says Islamists historically "choose strong Islamist leaders and submit to their rule willingly." Don't Americans do a similar thing? We vote representatives into office to make decisions for us. That is how our republic works. That is how Iraq will work if the vast majority of the country has anything to say about it.

Captain Fogg - if you wish to respond, please do so. But if you want to come onto my blog and post a little moonbat nonsense or attempt to insult what I hold dear to me, please visit other blogs.

******Update******

Here is what Jeff (my best friend of many many years) has to say to Capt. Fogg: "you've got a lot of nerve man. It's one thing to disagree with the political views expressed on this site, it's quite another thing to insult an american soldier and mock his willingness to put it all on the line... Have you ever stopped to think about what telling soldiers they are dying for nothing does to their moral? Or are you just so arrogant that you don't care? These men have given up everything to be there, sometimes their lives, and for that they at least deserve your respect."

Jason (a Navy squid) adds "I am in the military, but not because I "like the idea of dying or getting your balls shot off for nothing." It's because I wanted to *serve* my country, something you've apparently forgotten the meaning of."

Thanks guys. I hope he comes back and responds to reality...

Phil

Pretty hilarious...

2006-01-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jack for sending me this one vie email. Enjoy!

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take
any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter,
and supply a new definition. Here are this year's (2005) winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially
impotent for an indefinite period.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it wasyour money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas
from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking
down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who
doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's, like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad
vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like, a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only
things that are good for you.

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they
come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've
accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom
at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're
eating.

Oh Canada!

2006-01-24T02:20:00.000-05:00

Check out the latest from Canada's elections. Looks like the conservatives beat the liberals real bad - I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to the election process there, but I hope the change will be great for Canada. A Michelle Malkin readers asks, "Our losers always tell us they are going to move somewhere like Canada if the voters have the arrogance to elect Republicans. Where do Canadians threaten to go?" And I wonder, where will Michael Moore and the rest of the loonies threaten to move to if Canada become much more conservative? Hmm... How about France!

For more on our Canadian neighbors elections read this, this, this and finally liveblogging the day of the elections - all at Captains' Quarters. Power Line says that Captain Ed is "the first blogger who can credibly claim to have influenced a national election." Sweet!

Phil

Victory at Walter Reed!!

2006-01-24T01:52:00.000-05:00

Hey, this is awesome. Apparently the Code Pink anti-war group forgot to renew their permit to protest outside Walter Reed Medical Center in D.C. - one of the guys from "our side" grabbed the permit and it was bye bye Code Pink! Landry Fan is part of the pro-troop demonstrations on opposite corners of the street and is very excited about it! I have no doubt the soldiers in Walter Reed recovering from their wounds are psyched to have the moonbats farther down the street. Gunn Nutt has pictures and stories from the night Code Pink got tossed down the street!

I hope to stop by on a Friday night this summer and join the pro-troops demonstrators. Susan and I are taking a trip out east sometime in June I believe and touring some of the monuments and civil war sites, I figure stopping by Walter Reed would be a great addition to the trip.

Thanks to Michelle for the big news.

Phil

These are a few of my favorite things...

2006-01-23T05:12:00.000-05:00

When the dog bites! And the bee stings!

Now you all have that song stuck in your head!

Check out my favorite (hmm, could be number 2...) blog Michelle Malkin for an update on Josh Sparling.

Bill Roggio of Threats Watch (one of my other favorites) discusses tension and all out war between between different terrorist organizations - and themselves? "...the Islamic Army in Iraq hasn’t just turned down al-Qaeda’s invitation, it has, along with five other insurgent groups, including the Anbar Martyr’s Brigade and the 1920 Revolution Brigades, openly declared war against al-Qaeda..." Huh, that is a good sign. As I like to say, the only good terrorist is a dead one... So have at it!

Thanks to Power Line (my favorite of all... maybe) I found Camp Katrina - this one talks about humanitarian missions carried out by the military and has one of the coolest daily round ups I have ever seen - the latest count of Weapons Caches found and destroyed by the good ole US of A. Really great stuff. And to top it all off, his name is Phil, too. Sweet. I think I will place this site on my favorites. He has spent a ton of time and effort with his blog and his writing. More impressed the longer I look around.

Pics should be up in a few days of me getting promoted. Stay tuned.

Phil

Sergeant P!

2006-01-20T01:26:00.000-05:00

Has a nice ring to it, right? I am getting promoted in a day or two to the rank of Sergeant. It has been over a year since my last promotion, which is about right. I have been memorizing the Noncommissioned Officer's (NCO) creed, and I thought you might like to see it. I will be reciting it in front of my platoon and whoever else is at my promotion ceremony - should be fun. :) Oh, NCOs are enlisted soldiers ranking from Sergeant up to Sergeant Major of the Army.

The Noncommissioned Officer's creed

No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of soldiers. As a Noncommissioned Officer, I realize that I am a member of a time honored corps, which is known as "The Backbone of the Army". I am proud of the Corps of Noncommissioned Officers and will at all times conduct myself so as to bring credit upon the Corps, the Military Service and my country regardless of the situation in which I find myself. I will not use my grade or position to attain pleasure, profit, or personal safety.

Competence is my watchword. My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind -- accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my soldiers. I will strive to remain tactically and technically proficient. I am aware of my role as a Noncommissioned Officer. I will fulfill my responsibilities inherent in that role. All soldiers are entitled to outstanding leadership; I will provide that leadership. I know my soldiers and I will always place their needs above my own. I will communicate consistently with my soldiers and never leave them uninformed. I will be fair and impartial when recommending both rewards and punishment.

Officers of my unit will have maximum time to accomplish their duties; they will not have to accomplish mine. I will earn their respect and confidence as well as that of my soldiers. I will be loyal to those with whom I serve; seniors, peers, and subordinates alike. I will exercise initiative by taking appropriate action in the absence of orders. I will not compromise my integrity, nor my moral courage. I will not forget, nor will I allow my comrades to forget that we are professionals, Noncommissioned Officers, leaders!

A question from Luke - The Cross Sabers

2006-01-15T05:24:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite places here in the International Zone is the Cross Sabers - what once was Saddam's old parade grounds. My pictures showing those huge swords crossing each other along with the seating and the large asphalt strip are where Saddam would have huge military parades and give speeches from the giant podium. I saw a show on the History Channel that has a video of Saddam firing off an AK-47 into the air as his Army marches by - he stood right here, where we hold our promotion ceremonies and reenlistment ceremonies. The Cross Sabers is located right next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which I have yet to go into. It is on my list of things to do before leaving here.

More to come
Phil

Name this kitty!

2006-01-15T01:31:00.000-05:00

Ever since I updated my picture albums, the rave has been about a certain kitty in Baghdad. Sadly, this kitty will be named "kitty" until someone comes up with a better idea. A great call has come from the masses to find a name for this kitty and your emporer Phil has listened! If I have to type the word Kitty one more time, I may end up in Combat Stress Control!

So let's here it, what's it going to be? As to the sex of the cat, I couldn't tell you. Your guess is as good as mine. I look forward to your responses.

Phil

Wow! Way more famous!

2006-01-14T01:18:00.000-05:00

I clicked on a Yahoo News Article on yahoo.com today and noticed we are in it! Sweet. Check this one out about troops upgrading their humvees.

"Drawing on the part-time soldiers' backgrounds as mechanics, electricians and carpenters, the 126th Armor Battalion based in suburban Grand Rapids, Mich., added thermal imaging cameras and a 6-foot boom that can be lowered in front of the Humvee. Dangling chains and an infrared countermeasure on the boom can help trigger explosives before the Humvee is directly over them, said Lt. John Caras."

Pretty sweet, huh? They weren't cameras, I don't know where the author got that, but the thermal part is right. They are basically heat lamps meant to set off an Infared sensor before it is meant to be set off. My squad was one of the first two squads from my company out on patrols back in Aug., Sept., and Oct. - the Infared Countermeasures our company put on our trucks weren't put on until after we were finished with our time on the road. You could say we were the "guinea pigs" of our unit.

Enjoy the article!

Phil

My final decision...

2006-01-13T01:22:00.000-05:00

So I have been researching my next firearm purchase for the last few months. It has been a long journey with many twists and turns and finally, I have made a decision. I think...

The pistol in this picture here is exactly what I will be attempting to have the guys at Wilson Combat make for me. The company is well known as the best of all 1911 style .45 caliber custom gunsmiths, and I have no doubt I have made the right decision by deciding to spend a little more by going with Wilson. They stand behind their products with a Lifetime guarantee and that is very important to me. I plan on having this pistol for a long, long time and getting tons of use out of it.

Shortly after returning home, I will be applying for my Concealed Weapons Permit. There are several factors that have aided me in my decision to chose to carry, and I want to explain them as best I can.

First and foremost is my experience here with two police officers in my squad. I have asked them many questions about their jobs and the key that I have learned from them is that they highly recommend EVERY responsible citizen own a handgun. The reason is simple: if you are ever put in a situation where you have to defend your life, the chances of a Police Officer being there is slim to none. A quote I have heard several times is, "It may take you a few seconds to dial 911, but it could take the rest of your life for help to show up." I take my personal protection seriously, and thankfully Michigan allows me to carry a gun on me to defend myself.

Second and equally important is my love for guns. Ever since joining the Army, I have enjoyed shooting and owning several guns and have become quite the enthusiast. My good friend Jeff and I shoot together and both have found our individual passions: he enjoys the "battle rifles" like the M-4 and the AK-74 while I prefer pistols. We have great competition between each other, and I look forward to destroying him when I get home like I did while home on leave. (That's right, Jeff! Victory is mine!)

"There are three types of people in the world. Those who can count and those who cannot."

The law-abiding citizen plays by the rules, but there are certain members of society who do not - I am not going to allow a criminal to catch me unarmed. I have always found restrictive gun laws ironic - criminals break the law, why do they care if there are restrictions on guns? They will get them regardless of the laws. The law-abiding citizen is the one who will follow the laws and will be at a disadvantage because of them.

Many people have asked the same questions when I mention this: Why do you need a gun? Are you paranoid or something? If I have a gun, what do I need to be paranoid about? A little gun humor...

I hope you enjoy my thoughts and opinions, let me know what you think.

Phil

A soldier in need of your support!

2006-01-11T04:17:00.000-05:00

Please take 5 minutes out of your day and read this story. If you are as disgusted with one persons actions as I am, you can see why this kid needs a few words of support from Michigan. Let's go, Michigan! Send the kid a letter or a card. Oh, and pass the story on to anyone and everyone.

Thanks!

Phil

New Pics and Funny stories...

2006-01-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I just uploaded a ton of new pics to my Iraq Pictures. Check them out. They are not organized into any particular order, but I love the new ones. They are all recent pics, some from Christmas and some from today even. Check them out!

I thought I would tell you a funny story to properly catch the odd sense of humor my squad has:

So one of our team leaders (Sgt W.) has a portable DVD player that he brings out to work and watches the occasional movie or perhaps an episode of his favorite TV show, The X-Files. Sadly, his DVD player is a real piece of crap. I mean terrible, this thing will have the hardest time playing even the highest quality DVD. Even a brand new DVD out of the box will take much "coaxing" from his gentle touch. The coaxing involves him turning the DVD player off, then beating his DVD player on a table - Wham! Wham!! WHAM!!! Then turning it back on and seeing if the movie will work. After several sessions of "coaxing therapy" the movie will start playing and he will go back to smiling and enjoying himself. A couple nights ago, this just became too much for him to handle. After four or five times of his usual coaxing, he calmly removes the DVD from the player, stands up and yells, "Revenge will be mine, DVD player!!!" and smashes it on the cement floor! It busts into ten different pieces and all of us just stare, our mouths agape...

Now, everyone in my squad knows of his previous troubles with his DVD player and totally understood when he radioed down to our other squad members and says, "The DVD player will torment me no more!! It has met its unfortunate end this very minute and now lays in a pile of rubble beneath my feet!" We all congratulated him on his great triumph over the vile piece of machinery and went back to doing what we do.

Perhaps 20 minutes later, we hear 10 gun shots fired off in the not-too-far distance Bang! bang! bang! bang! bang! Someone from down below grabs their radio and says, "I thought it was in a pile of rubble? Does shooting it really kill it anymore?"

Ah, 1st squad... They are near and dear to my heart in the weirdest way. And that, Andrew Milo, catches the essence of 1st squad - "the Hell raisers."

I have so many more stories to tell... Perhaps more will be on the way soon.

-Phil

We made the news!

2006-01-07T02:31:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Eve Day, NBC and ABC and some other wahoos were on my camp bothering us. Some didn't mind, but I am a little paranoid to talk to the press. I have seen far too many soldiers misquoted or had what they say intentionally taken far out of context. Here's a little story about us. Enjoy!

Phil

Over where???

2006-01-03T01:22:00.000-05:00

So a friend of mine purchased season one of "Over There" - a TV show on FX supposedly based around a squad of soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. I was curious about how it would depict things and how true to life it would actually be. If you want me to sum it up in one sentence so you don't have to read the rest of my review: thank God this show was canceled.

I watched 4 or 5 episodes and got the main themes of the show down pretty quick. The thing I kept thinking over and over was, "I cannot believe Americans are lead to believe this is what the Army is really like." The obvious lack of input from anyone belonging to the Army was so apparent, I found myself laughing outloud instead of being sucked into the drama. I'll give you a few examples of the way things are portrayed and then explain how things really work.

They all have nicknames. Everyone of them, and they never call each other anything else. The Army is not "Animal House" where when you start your experience you are suddenly given a new name. They go by "double wide" and "smoke" and "angle" - in a normal squad, yes there are a few nicknames, but we call each other by our last names typically. All this does is add to the fantasy-world-of-an-excuse-for-the-Army they are trying to make.

In this squad, one staff sergeant (E-6) is in charge of a squad of privates - that is just not how this works, my friends. In a line platoon like this one, each squad is typically comprised of three or four teams. Each team is three soldiers with one of them being a sergeant. Otherwise you run into problems (like they do in every episode) with a bunch of privates arguing amongst themselves what to do about a problem. One Sergeant cannot be everywhere, and each team must be able to operate a little bit on its own. Each element must have leadership put in place to help maintain discipline and accomplish the mission at hand. There is no possible way a squad doing raids and offensive maneuvers is going to go out with one Non-commissioned Officer(NCO).

They drive around from camp to camp in a soft-top five-ton truck. I laughed! We would never ever consider leaving without three up-armored humvees at a minimum. In one episode, they take the squad to another camp in this truck to go get beer and get hit by an IED (improvised explosive device). What kind of crazy, ignorant bastards would do such a thing?

Every spouse at home is cheating. Now, don't get me wrong, this does happen. My unit has had a few divorces already and there will probably be a few more, but they make it seem like all Army wives are total sluts. After one soldier finds out his wife slept with multiple different guys, the squad leader says something to the effect of, "I would ask about what is going on in your personal life, but I just don't care." Once again, this is just not how this works - the Army may be rough and tough sometimes, but if there is a serious problem like this, it is dealt with and the soldier is pulled off of the duties where he might go crazy and do something stupid. He is not immediately put on a mission to go bust down doors and get himself or others killed due to his emotional trauma.

The officers are completely incompetent and have no respect for their soldiers, their NCOs, or anyone for that matter but themselves. They call their LT "LT Underpants." A lot of war movies and shows play on this stereotype, but as you may have guessed, there are many competent officers that do a great job and are perfectly capable of making the right decisions and leading troops.

Check out the cheasiest song EVER that is the main theme song by Chris Gerolmo played at the end of each episode:

The day is comin
The drums are drummin
If you know one say a prayer.
Theres mothers cryin
And fathers sighin, uh hum
War is in the air.

The trains are fillin up with boys
They've left behind their favorite toys

They're goin over there
Over there
Where someone has to die

I added the emphasis to the last line of the song because the group of us watching the show busted out laughing at the last line. It was the last thing you heard at the end of each episode and left you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

There is so much more, but you get the point. This show is terrible and it is no wonder their audience got smaller and smaller throughout the season. If the director had given even a young soldier like me his script and asked for some input, it could be a whole lot better and a whole lot more believable. If you do happen to catch an episode, change the channel and check out the mudville gazette or my absolute favorite Michael Yon. Check out his incredible stories as an imbedded journalist in what was the most dangerous city in Iraq - Mosul. The dispatch that got me hooked was one of his last before he went home, don't miss it.

Heading to bed, stay tuned!

Phil

Updated: My New Years Eve

2006-01-02T03:09:00.000-05:00

So I've said before that holidays here are milestones more than holidays. New Years Eve was uh... well... anti-climactic to say the least. I was driving with my squad to go get a hot meal before I head to work (like we do every night) around 11:45 pm and we got stuck behind a convoy of trucks. After waiting for a bit, I am about to get out and clear my weapons and the clearing barrels when I look at my watch and say to my team leader, "Hey, it's 12:03." He glances at me and says, "Yep."

That was it.

As soon as we step out to clear our weapons, though, the rest of baghdad decided it would be a great idea to step out onto their roofs and blast off a bunch of automatic weapons. What a great idea...

I plan on having "real" holidays when I get back - to include at the very least Christmas and New Years. I think it would be hilarious to go out to a bar with some friends and count down to midnight with everyone else looking at us like we were crazy. Hmmm, I think Thanksgiving ought to happen, too - just because of the turkey.

Thanks to all the new commenters lately - there has been a growing number of bloggers who stop by and say hi every once in a while and I want to welcome all of you! Jason is a Navy Reserve guy attemting to head Active duty - his blog has lots of insight into various issues and he shares many political views that I have. He even mentioned Ann Rand in one of his posts whos book Atlas Shrugged influences me as well. One of my favorite posts from him is on patriotism. Make sure to check it out.

Landry's life is written by one of the amazing people who will protest the anti-war protesters outside Walter Reed Medical Center. The crazy lunatics from Code Pink seem to think it is a good idea to hold an anti-war "vigil" there every Friday night. Check this post out with all the great banners supporting the troops and our missions around the world from the other side of things. This girl deserves a medal. Note to self: make sure you know the sex of the author you are talking about. Landry's life is written by a woman! I sincerely apologize for the mistake.

Laurie from Soldier's Angels New York is fantastic - I have mentioned Soldier's Angels many times before and the support I have had from my own Angels. Laurie will say she is just a typical American, but we know better. The support Laurie sends the troops is going above adn beyond the call of duty. Thanks for stopping by Laurie.

And then there is Andrew Milo. He is a big nerd. No question about it - but his blog has all kinds of good stuff from his New Years Prayer to debating different issues. An excellent read with links to lots of nerd stuff.

Happy New Year to everyone! I am nearly home! Can you believe it? About a month and a half and I will be heading home. Talk to everyone soon.

Phil

"5K Reindeer Romp!"

2005-12-30T13:48:00.000-05:00

This morning I went on a 5K run again. It was fun as usual, they take place at the US Embassy in Baghdad. I slaughtered my time from last month by three minutes and my body is yelling at me for it. I woke up and felt like curling up into a ball and crying! "My legs!!!" :)

Heading to work, more on the 5K later.

Phil

Thank you!

2005-12-27T04:29:00.000-05:00

A month or two ago, my dad had me sign up for an adopt-a-soldier program that Rush Limbaugh has - I waited for a sponsor and a day or two before Christmas I received notice through email of the good news! Jack from AZ adopted me and got me a subscription to Rush's website and a year of the Limbaugh Letter. I emailed Jack with a thank you, but I wanted to thank him publicly for taking care of me. I've been reading the fantastic speeches of Ronald Reagan and reading Rush debate with callers over political issues from all over the country. It has been great, and thanks to Jack - a great Christmas present for me.

I was looking around in the Department of Defense website and found some more neat stories that I thought I would share with everyone. I haven't seen many stories about what has been going on in Iraq on the news lately, mostly because there hasn't been much violence. Instead of reporting the positive things, the news just changes their focus to other sensational stories from the world or from home. It is very frustrating. Lucky for you, you have the wonderful power of the internet at your hands and you can find all sorts of news!

U.S. soldiers help out a disabled Iraqi man and get him some new wheels after his wheel chair broke. Leave it up to troops in the field to make him one out of scraps!

Destroying weapons caches is one of the most important parts of our fight here. It makes a terrorist's job much more difficult and drives the price of weapons up. From what I've been told, the price of an AK-47 used to be a few dollars over here, now it is well over a hundred. That is progress! ÂI can truly say it has reduced enemy activity in our area tremendously,Â (Specialist) McCoy said. ÂWe are coming from a point where we were dealing with [a lot of] IED attacks a week, and now the number of attacks has decreased tremendously.Â
Check out the pictures of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams blowing up all kinds of weapons.

This story talks about Iraqi Soldiers finding more weapons caches and taking on mresponsibilitylity. These guys are getting better and better each month. In the news, they keep repeating that there are so few Iraqi battalions ready to go on their own, but without clarifying why. For a unit to completely operate on it's on, they need their own airsupport from Helicopters and planes, not to mention heavy armor and artillery support. Right now, the concentration is mainly on getting Iraqi Soldiers on the ground, so in the presses eyes, these troops aren't fully ready to take care of themselves. As far as I am concerned, it is far more important to get the bulk of our coalition forces out of Iraq by replacing them wIraqiraqy Army. The air support, armor, and artillery can be trained later. Don't let the jargon confuse you - there are over 50 Iraqi battalions operating basically on their own, they just don't all have helicopters or tanks quite yet. In a speech a week ago, President bush said, "At this time last year, there were only a handful of Iraqi army and police battalions ready for combat. Now, there are more than 125 Iraqi combat battalions fighting the enemy, more than 50 are taking the lead, and we have transferred more than a dozen military bases to Iraqi control." According to the press releases from the white house, "over 30 Iraqi Army battalions have assumed primary control of their own areas of responsibility. In Baghdad, Iraqi battalions have taken over major sectors - including some of the city's toughest neighborhoods." We are there to help, of course, but the good news is we can put our infantry and military police troops elsewhere and let the Iraqis control their own neighborhoods.

I leave you with a powerful quote from our Commander and Chief that echoes what the troops on the ground here know is true. "Defeatism may have its partisan uses, but it is not justified by the facts. For every scene of destruction in Iraq, there are more scenes of rebuilding and hope. For every life lost, there are countless more lives reclaimed. And for every terrorist working to stop freedom in Iraq, there are many more Iraqis and Americans working to defeat them. My fellow citizens: Not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq. "

Keep in mind the New Year coming up may have little differences for you or your family at home - my prediction is that here in Iraq the change will be dramatic and wonderful in 2006.

Thanks again for the gift, Jack and welcome to my blog.

Phil

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-24T19:12:00.000-05:00

I lucked out tonight and was given the night off. Pretty sweet, huh? I just called my good friends Jeff and Beth and talked for a while with them. I typically spend some time with them on Christmas Day, this is the first time I haven't in years. I will call my parents later today as well, I miss them a lot. I have been attempting to avoid thinking about Christmas this month, and it is working, but I can't help thinking about it every once in a while. The smell of fresh baked cookies, pine needles, and roast beast... mmm. In March we are going to have Phil's Christmas, so this one is just a warm up. Sadly I wasn't able to help cut down the tree or decorate cookies with Mom, but I will attempt to do things like that in March.

Susan and I started a little planning today for our Christmas - we plan on getting some ornaments and a tree before I get home. It is fun to start planning for our future together. It has seemed so far away for so long, it is amazing that I will be on my way home in 7 or 8 weeks or so. She has been such an amazing support to me in so many ways. I am so excited to finally see her. I can't wait!

We had ABC and NBC here today interviewing people - Good Morning America is apparently going to be running a story on Monday with some clips and interviews with some of my guys from my company. Sorry, you won't get to see me - I don't think I was in any of the shots.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas time and has a wonderful New Year coming up. I will be thinking of all of you and home especially. Merry Christmas!

Phil

A rude awakening

2005-12-22T13:44:00.000-05:00

I was sleeping when an enormous boom woke me up and whomever else was sleeping. Apparently an unguided rocket similar to this one landed a few hundred feet from my camp. It was pretty loud from my bunk - a friend of mine was about 100 meters from the impact area when it landed and here you can see the way the grass nearby was blown back. Crazy stuff, but these rockets are quite innaccurate when fired by an untrained insurgent and no one was hurt.

Other than the occasional boom or sporadic gun fire, things have been quiet since a few days before the election on the 15th. I haven't seen any news headlines about the latest body counts or anything, so I assume that means thigns have been quiet in most of Iraq. Not to say that means anything, we've had slow points before, but I like to be hopeful about these sort of things.

Anyway, Christmas is coming up very soon here, I have some cute pictures that I took of presents and trees, hopefully I will get those online tonight. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas and safe travels at home while seeing family and friends.

Phil

The Anbar Campaign

2005-12-18T02:04:00.000-05:00

"...Iraq has no mountains in which to seek refuge, or forest in which to hide," Al Zaqawi says in a captured letter to bin Laden. The Anbar Province and the Sunni Triangle "is our base of operations from where we depart and to where we return."

The Anbar province is home to some of the most famous places in Iraq due to the violence that plagued the area previously. It is home to Fallujah, Ramadi, Hit, Haditha and many others that have been serious hot-spots. I mentioned in my last post that 2006 will be the turn around that we are all hoping for due to the offensive missions being performed here - well this is what I was talking about. The Democrats have been whining for over 2 years that President Bush has no plan or that the military forces here have no plan - well I have found the perfect tool to illustrate the amazing progress that is being made according to "the plan."

From November 2004 to the present there has been a very aggressive campaign in Iraq's Anbar Province. Bill Raggio puts it best:

"The plan is clear: interdict al Qaeda and the insurgency along their lines of supply: the ratlines along the Tigris and Euphrates River; strike at targets of opportunity when they appear (search and destroy missions); push al Qaeda and the insurgency's bases of operations further west towards the Syrian border and occupy the cities and towns along the river with Coalition forces, while handing over responsibility to Iraqi Security Forces when they are prepared to handle the mission."

Take 3 minutes to check out this presentation and see the amazing progress from Nov. 2004 to October 2005 - Starting with "Search and Destroy" (illustrated by the red dot) missions, coalition and Iraqi forces take out much of the enemies strength. Then "Clear and Hold" (illustrated by a blue square) missions are executed later and the ground is kept under friendly control. Watch as the red dots collect and then are slowly brought under control to the blue squares. It seems like a simple plan, but it has been very effective.

Slowly but surely, the terrorists have fewer and fewer safe havens and the weapons and explosives are harder to get in to the country. Not to mention, the offensive operations have taken huge tolls on the terrorists numbers. Keep in mind that an area on this map may have a blue square on it but might not be fully under control yet. The Iraqi security forces are growing rapidly, but the process of having them take the place of the coalition troops is slower than we Americans would like. That in turn prevents coalition forces from performing other offensive operations in the next town.

We are now in phase two and three of the Anbar Campaign - for more on this check out more from Bill Raggio.

Zarqawi's greatest fear is slowly strangling his operations. "With the spread of the Army and police, our future is becoming frightening... If god forbid, the government is successful and takes control of the country, we just have to pack up and go elsewhere else [sic] where we can raise the flag again or die, if god chooses."

That day is growing nearer and nearer - Keep in mind Zarqawi's letter was written nearly a year before these operations began - imagine what he is thinking now!

I hope you enjoy it - let me know what you think!

Phil

P.S. Why isn't this front page news? Why are bloggers (conservative bloggers) the only ones explaining what the military is actually doing in Iraq?

What a great story...

2005-12-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

An amazing story! I was really impressed with the Marines from this Civil Affairs unit. The rest of the blog looks great.

The elections went great! I haven't heard any reports of serious violence from any part of Iraq. If you haven't checked it out recently, Iraq the Model had a ton of good stuff from various parts of Iraq through out the day yesterday from Iraqis on the ground. Very good stuff. Reports are 70% of Iraqis voted - incredible. There will be negative people and ignorant idiots who will down play this day, but freedom is on the march! Mark my words, the next year here will be a complete turn around in Iraq. Our troops will slowly start to pull back and the Iraqi Army and Police will continue to be given more and more responsibility. This war is far from over, but this next year will be a year of progress that will show off the hard work and sacrifice of the past three.

Goooaaaalllll!!!!!

2005-12-14T02:00:00.000-05:00

So the other day I was playing ping pong in our rec center when I hear a ton of gun fire. Normally when we hear anything like that, it is no big deal. We hear gun fire and a few explosions every day. No problem, but this was a lot more than normal and a lot closer. All of a sudden one of our lieutenants comes running in to the rec center with his helmet and body armor on yelling "Quick! Back to your rooms. Put your gear on!" He was pretty hyped up. This is normal for him, but we could tell he was serious. So I job back to my room and find everyone outside at our smoking area watching the tracers go flying in the air. "What's going on?" I ask. "Celebratory fire."

Now this is very strange to us, but this is how people over here celebrate certain things. Weddings, sports wins, that sort of thing. Iraq had just beaten Syria in soccer in a penalty shootout or overtime or something for the World Cup - so every Iraqi with a rifle decided to go celebrate by firing their AK-47s into the air. So strange...

Anyway, if you haven't been watching the news, there is a big election tomorrow. Probably the biggest one yet as far as importance. This election will elect leadership for the next four years. I am very excited to see how it works out, the last two went very well and relatively peacefully. I hope this will be the same. The city is mostly shut down to car traffic for the day to prevent suicide attacks, and the Iraqi security forces took over most of the security for the last election in October. Hopefully they will do the same tomorrow. I am doing very well here, only two more months before we leave here. I am very excited to get out of here. I miss home like crazy.

I hope all is well! Merry Christmas to everyone from Baghdad!

Phil

Hurray for December!

2005-12-06T05:23:00.000-05:00

Only a few more months now! Each month is getting just a little bit closer! I can almost taste the green beer of St. Patty's day!

Good news! I'm apparently getting a package from Katie of Soldier's Angels - what a great group of people. I have gotten so much support and just had a wonderful time with the different Angels who have sent me emails and letters and gear and packages. Thanks Katie!

For lots more good news, I figured I would check out the Department of Defense's website and see what they had on there. I have been reading a ton of stories in the military news paper about Iraqi Security Forces taking the lead in all kinds of operations over here lately and the great progress the Iraqi Army and Police have shown in the last year. Here's a story highlighting the Iraqi Police.

Here's one about various operations that have been happening in Iraq showing the many stories of captured terrorists and the hard work the US military and the Iraqi Military puts in to stop the attacks.

More Iraq Army troops were trained and graduated to join the fight. Check this one out for the latest numbers showing the growing strength of the Iraqy Army.

Two Iraqi civilians were found after being kidnapped - what a great thing for those guys! Another victory for the good guys!

Apart from disrupting terrorist operations, one of the other major concerns over here is getting water and power back up to normal standards. The Sweet Water Canal is being worked on to get water to the civilians that hopefully won't need to rely on bottled water forever.

The white house released a report explaining in great detail the strategy for things around here. My summation would be this: kill terrorists, train Iraqi troops to kill terrorists, ensure Iraqi government is stable, slowly remove our own troops. However, I would recommend reading what the guys in charge have to say. Here is a summary. Here is the whole thing.

And good news for me - I'm not as dumb as the average American youth!

I hope you enjoy my links - that is just me being bored for a few minutes - the truth is out there. From my little corner of things here, I can tell that things are getting quieter - who knows, maybe it is because of the elections coming up and the enemy is planning a big attack, but the last month has been much quieter than the last 6. Our newspaper said November had the least amount of "roadside bombs" since June - I would not be surprised. We'll see how December goes!

More to come!

Phil

New Photos!

2005-11-29T04:33:00.000-05:00

I've just added a ton of photos to my photo album - I've started arranging them into different albums for the different places I have stayed. So far I've got Ft. Dix in one, pictures from home in another, and then Iraq/Kuwait in one. I've got more on the way, but this is certainly a good start!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - mine was very lonely. I did actually have a Turkey dinner - not bad at all, but certainly not the same. I was able to call the fam and say hi, that was nice. I really missed home - it is really odd during a holiday over here - kind of like it doesn't really exist. Your day stays the same as any other, the food is the only thing that changes. I am sure Christmas will be even less fun, but I have made plans for Christmas in March with my family and Susan's family. I can't wait - Christmas is certainly my favorite time of year and to my knowledge I don't think I have ever spent one away from my family. The best thing about Christmas this year will be the knowledge that I am only two months away from being home-sweet-home.

Enjoy the pictures! More to come!

Phil

Care packages!

2005-11-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

I've had some people ask me what kind of stuff I would like in care packages for Christmas - so here are a few suggestions:

For God's sake, please do not send me presents - anything that isn't going to get eaten or used here I will have to ship back home. I will be leaving in February and I have far too many books, clothes, and other such things to keep my busy until then. Also, phone cards do not work here - no use in sending them. Bathroom items we have tons of as well thanks to Susan's incoming package of deoderant to me. (Thanks, babe!) We have lots of pens and paper and envelopes - mail is free so stamps are not needed.

Food is always a good idea! Cookies, candy, microwaveable foods like ramen noodles, soup, or other such delicious meal replacements, Pop tarts, cereal, chips, granola bars, etc. are great little snacks over here that we see far too little of. Christmas cookies will be devoured in a matter of minutes, so send extra.

The best care package would have a letter about how you are doing! :)

My address is as follows:

Prentice, Phillip
HHC Fwd-5
B Co. 1-126 AR
APO AE 09348

I can't wait to see everyone. I hope you are all having a good time on the biggest bar night of the year! I wish i could be drinking a beer with you.

Phil

Aren't you all lucky? another post!

2005-11-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

I have to say something about what went on yesterday night. I don't know if you heard/saw/were paying attention, but last night the House of representatives voted on a non-binding resolution for the immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. I watched the debate and vote on C-span (I know Phil definitely found the coolest girl ever...lol) and was blown away by the things that were being said by the democrats. One of my personal favorites was instead of actually fighting the issue at hand Murtha read a few letters from angry or sad families who have soldiers that were injured or killed in this war or being redeployed. Don't misunderstand I feel for those families and going through that would be horrible, but the argument at hand is not whether or not bad things happen during war. Check out this link and scroll down to "What could be more American than a vote" to see some more info about this vote.
The normal arguments of "we were misled" (check out this link to see all the DEMOCRATS and others that said there were WMD and that the threat was real) "it's not our battle" (apparently acts of aggression on our soil don't necessitate a reaction...ah yes nothing says safety and freedom like we were attacked so lets do nothing) "we don't have a plan" (whether or not you like it staying until the job is finished IS a plan) etc etc. I was amused by the idea that we should fight back with our foreign policy and negotiate our way out (sorry I forgot to note who said that), but Bill Young responded to it best "who do we negotiate with? Saddam Hussein? al-Zarqawi?"
If we were to leave right now that would say that we gave up. Want this war to be a complete failure and all for nothing? thats the way to do it. Al-Jazeera thought it was headline news and a GOOD thing that we were considering withdrawal. Does that not tell you enough? Why is this significant? Because the intent of who we are fighting is to wear us down and get us, the powerhouse, to retreat and concede. We'd be sending a message alright. "Mess with the US and we'll retaliate, but only until we decide not to" wow there's a strong stance. We would be putting our safety at risk. Who wouldn't attack us? I mean why not? It's not as if we'd actually fight you to the finish anyway, so in the end you'd win. I don't know about you, but if I was interested in that kind of attitude I"d move to France. The US is a strong and powerful nation. That is one of the reasons we were attacked. To back down now would be a complete and total failure.
A couple more things, did anyone think of what this would do to troop morale? More than one vet (Sam Johnson included) said that when they thought the country wasn't behind them they essentially gave up. Would you want to fight for someone who isn't fighting for you? The fact of the matter is at this point no matter what you feel about this war we can't leave. We started it and we have to see it through. We sent troops over there and then we are what going to tell them "we are just kidding. We changed our mind, we don't feel like supporting you anymore." Talk about doing a disservice to all those who have been injured or killed fighting this war (which was indeed one of the arguments the Democrats made). Nothing, can take back what happened to those soldiers, but isn't it better that they were fighting for something real (which they were and are) and that we, as a country, see it through.
In a classic Democratic party move Sam Johnson is speaking and someone calls for unanimous consent to give him an additional three minutes. There are some objections from the Democrats so the speaker asks for those objectors to stand up. You know who stood up? NOONE. Not one Democrat would show his face and openly object. It's laughable really the cowardice shown there.
So the vote results... 403 nays to 3 yeas. Hmmm...way to take a stance Democrats. The real irony is that I believe more than 3 Democrats spoke for the withdrawal in the debate, but when it counted voted against it. Unbelievable, but sadly, not suprising. The spin being put on this in the mainstream media is about what one could expect. The argument is apparently that the Democrats voted against this to show that it wasn't a vote of significance. "To prove my point I will vote against what I believe" uh okay...I fail to see the logic in that, but then again logic behind most Democrats' actions is baffling at best and generally non-existent.
Alright, I really have to get going....
Susan

Big game today!

2005-11-19T02:01:00.000-05:00

U of M vs. Ohio State today! Thanks to a new addition to our camp here, I will be able to watch it on the Armed Forces Network. Pretty sweet, huh? Go blue! Susan is a U of M grad, along with my older brother, so I have extra reasons besides growing up right by The Big House to cheer for U of M this weekend. Hopefully they play well.

I am doing quite well, the time seems to be going kind of quickly - Thanksgiving will be here in a few more days and Christmas shortly there after - amazing. It has been nearly 11 months since I left home, 3 more to go. I have been missing home a lot lately - family, friends, Susan of course, and the little pleasures of home that you don't really realize you have until you move away. Now that it is cold out at night, we rely on heaters to keep us warm - you would be surprised at how often the power strips catch fire or short out. Being more or less trapped in such a small area doesn't help our growing restlessness to get home - the freedom to get in your car and drive around where ever you feel like is something I will have to get used to. I can't wait for pizza and beer and weekends and Lake Michigan and homecooked meals. My best guess is right around the 1st of March I will be finally home! Finally home...

Go blue! And go State! It would be really cool if Michigan State can beat Penn State today as well... what would happen to the Big Ten Title?

Phil

Just checking in

2005-11-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been very good about updating on here (not too helpful since the whole point of me posting too was to get posts on here more often). I just wanted to let you know that Phil's doing well.
I need to get some stuff done around here here, so I apologize for this being so short. Hopefully, I can get a real post on here for you soon.
I hope everyone is doing well! Enjoy the big game tomorrow :)
God Bless!
Susan

A little sarcasm for the day...

2005-11-16T15:13:00.000-05:00

My favorite political spot for satire has a great post. Check it out here.

Enjoy!

Phil

Great article

2005-11-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

So if anyone is willing to take a few minutes to check this out, this article my dad found is fantastic! It goes through all kinds of great examples from why al Qaeda and other terrorist groups hate the US so much to why we are at war still today. It is very long, but a great way to understand causes of and reasons for the war here in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

Let me know what you think.

Phil

Blood!!!!

2005-11-10T17:54:00.000-05:00

I gave blood today at the hospital nearby. That was lots of fun. Actually I didn't give much blood, they took the platelets out of my blood and then put the blood back into me. It is pretty neat. Apparently the platelets are needed to help stop bleeding and are more important that actual whole blood. Pretty neat, eh? I got a T shirt and a key chain, I plan on going every couple weeks from now on, it is for a great cause I suppose. :)

Let's see, what else is new? Oh, to answer Luke's question from his latest bit of nonsense in the comment on my last post, no there are no mountains near by. Up north in the Kurdish areas, I am told there are lots of mountains. Rumor has it it even snows. I doubt we will get snow here, though it will get down into the 30s. Not cool when I work at night. Lately it has been in the low 50s at night, which is unbelievably cold to me as my body is used to it being so hot out. The cold came on very quickly, so we haven't quite adjusted to it. I am sure Michigan will be a pretty big shock when I get back in February. Bbbrrrr! At least we don't have hurricanes, right?

As far as pictures of the surrounding area, yes I have take some neat pictures of Baghdad, I will update my photo album soon. I don't have my own computer or a memory stick, so it is kind of difficult... But I've got some neat pictures of some of the buildings and sites around here and I will try to find some other good pics of Iraqi soldiers I have worked with and whatever else I can find.

I'm outta here.

Phil

P.S. Yes, luke, I said nonsense. I've laid down the gauntlet...

Happy Birthdays!

2005-11-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

There have been a bunch of birthdays recently and I would like to send out a big birthday hello to everyone.

First was my dad! Happy Birthday Dad! His was a couple weeks ago. And my big sister, Jeannette had a birthday a week ago! Happy birthday, Jeannettie!! And Yesterday was Carly's birthday - Happy Birthday, Carly!

-Phil

A loaded six string on my back...

2005-11-06T03:33:00.000-05:00

My friend Matt and I just finished playing for the Chapel services here at my camp - we had so much fun. I play the guitar and he sings - next week he will have a synthesizer that has a drumset on it, so he will play drums as well. It was a ton of fun and really brings a new dynamic to a service that usually has hymns with no music in the background. The Chaplain was psyched last week when we told him we wanted to play, and now he wants us to prepare more songs, so we're going to enjoy or time to make a difference. I'll keep you updated on the progress with that.

Nothing new is happening other than that - I just got a package in the mail from Susan! Thanks baby! I need to go open it to see what is in it. (Is it a pony?)

Stay tuned!
Phil

Rain!

2005-11-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago, I was working when I heard a not-so-familiar sound - the pitter patter of drops of rain hitting the roof! The last time I heard rain was in July when I was home on leave, some guys hadn't heard it since May - the last time we had rain in Iraq. It rained for a whole 3 minutes... well, it was quite the downpour for the first rain in the last six months. Since then we have gotten a couple more little sprinkles, but our interpreter tells us that much more rain is coming. Much more - this place doesn't handle rain very well, I remember in April and May when the rain was heavy - turned everything into this nasty mud soup and the water sat in huge lakes everywhere. The drainage systems don't seem to be all that functional - maybe non-existent.

Other than that, not much is happening in my part here. Rumor has it we will be home in February! Pretty neat, huh? I thought it would be March, but it looks like our replacements should be here sometime after the New Year and we should be outta here and home a few weeks after that. So excited, you have no idea. I cannot wait for beer, pizza, taco bell, family, friends and Susan most of all. So many things that we live without here... Ah the freedom to det ina car and go wherever... Soon, though...

Until next time, enjoy my beer and taco bell!
Phil

Pictures! As requested

2005-10-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

So I have been working diligently on a photo album for everyone to check out. It is far from being finished, but it is a start. Things take forever due to my internet being so frickin slow! But what can you do? I will continue to add photos and even create more albums so check back every once in a while. I will put a link on my site for them. Enjoy the photos!

Phil

My unit made the news!

2005-10-28T20:10:00.000-04:00

So in late September my unit was involved in a humanitarian mission - pretty neat, they offered medical aid and toys and such to a neighborhood in Baghdad. The press release is on my XO's (executive officer) blog "courage without fear." (I'd be without fear if I worked in the TOC all day!! Just kidding, LT.) And some pictures here, here, and here. (Sandstorm anyone? That was in April when I first got here.) He writes in a whole lot more detail than I do about what my unit is doing and has some pretty excellent ideas to get my unit some gear. I was unfortunately unable to attend the humanitarian mission - I was on the road as I remember that day.

Anywho, all is well here. Susan is in Chicago (good post babe! thanks!) so I am keeping myself busy.

Talk to you soon...
Phil

Wanted to say something...

2005-10-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone!
It's Susan. I just wanted to post and say a couple things. Hopefully, between Phil and myself posts will be much more frequent on here :) I was able to talk to him earlier today, and he is doing well.
So I try not to discuss politics or things of that nature unless I feel I am very well informed on the issue, but this time I've got to say something. I'm not claiming to be well informed here, but I think I'm better informed than a lot and in a position to say something! Here's a few links that I think exemplify what I'm about to say.
example1
example2
example3

Alright, war is not desirable ever, but at times it is necessary. Don't mistake what I'm saying. I think that every single life lost is tragic. I feel horrible for the families that have had to or will have to deal with that, and I am praying for them. Unfortunately, that is one of the consequences of war. And in this case every single one of our soldiers is in voluntarily. We did not use the draft. The soldiers that are there made a voluntary committment to our military to protect freedom and our country, irrelevant of how they feel about this or any other war. We are able to enjoy the freedoms and safety we have because of these people, and to downplay the importance of what they are doing or use it against them is nothing but disrespectful to them.
Regardless of your views of this war though I hope you can see the logic in what I'm about to say. The media is supposed to be there to inform us what is going on. A large majority of the media, however, decided somewhere along the way that it is better to show us what they want us to regardless of the whole picture. Now, how this relates to those links (which is just a small sampling): We all know that war brings bad things. I doubt that you can find anyone to argue that point, but by only pointing out the bad and not the good the media is putting the public in a position to do nothing but disagree with the war. What can be accomplished by including an excerpt of letter from a now deceased soldier to his daughter? It will make people angry, thats for sure and if you want yet another reason to disagree with this war there it is. I found it interesting that this happened in January of 2004, but didn't make the news until after the US casualties hit 2000. Call me crazy, but I thought that every single soldier that has died fighting this war was important. If his death is only relevant now that the number is somehow high enough to warrant the media's attention how demeaning to him and his family is that? Scholars who study and collect war correspondence say the letters help bring into focus individual loss. "The overall impact of these letters is that it reminds us of the humanity of these troops and how they are not statistics," says Andrew Carroll, editor of two collections, Behind the Lines and War Letters. (taken from the "Letters home..."article) Exactly! They are not statistics so why use them as such?!? I also think that to use them as examples of why a war shouldn't be fought is ludicrous. As I said before, I don't know of anyone that believes that war is without bad things.
The mainstream media has also decided that its headline worthy that the Iraqi's have lost more people than we have. I personally, wasn't suprised by this "news". I'm glad they released that info, don't get me wrong. I think it puts things in perspective as far as how we are "doing", so to speak. I find it almost amusing that the media released this information as if it came as a big shock. I suppose if you listen to the mainstream media it probably did come as a suprise that we aren't the only side losing people in this war, and its probably also suprising to hear that soldiers see that they are making a difference.
These kinds of things and the mainstream media coverage in general infuriates me. The freedom of speech allows for this, and I'm certainly not arguing that. I believe, however, that the media has a responsibility to report the whole picture and that all of us as citizens have need to use our freedoms responsibly.
I hope I've given you something to think about.
Susan

In the fake news... the Chrysler recall...

2005-10-25T05:05:00.000-04:00

This is terrible - just terrible. Terribly funny... Also see Coke's new 30-Liter. :)

A new addition!

2005-10-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you know that there will be a new addition to the site - Susan will now be posting from time to time. She will be able to post to let everyone know how I am doing if I am unable to. I feel sometimes as if I don't post very often, so if she can get on and let everyone know I am doing fine, that will get out some more food info for everyone. And as she is also interested in politics and the like perhaps we will hear from her about issues of the day as well.

Enjoy!
- Phil

Winter? What in the world is going on?

2005-10-22T03:15:00.000-04:00

So in the last three or four days it has gotten cold! I've been working nights (3rd shift I guess) lately and tonight dropped below 60 - now for those of you in Michigan that seems like a blessing at the moment I am sure, but try to imagine you were just getting used to it being 110-125 every day... That is a huge drop in temperature. Tonight we were in full winter gear - jackets, neck warmers, winter hats gloves and everything. It's really weird. I can't imagine what we are going to do when it gets down to 30. When I thought of Iraq, I never thought of it getting this cold... For the first time, I am starting to realize why they made us keep all of our cold weather gear.

Other than the weather, things are going very well here. Work is moving along and things have been pretty quiet since the day before the elections until now. We'll see how things play out once all the votes are counted - not to mention Saddam's trial is also going on, I am sure that will heat things up a little bit here and there, but it seems like there is very little the insurgents here can do to stop the progress that is being made. The vote went very well, and the Sunnis turned out in very strong numbers - which means they are at the very least participating in their newly available Democratic process. That is a very encouraging thing.

I really have no idea what I am talking about to tell you the truth, but it seems to me like things could improve quickly here. I hope they do - the Iraqis basically ran their own elections - nearly all of the security was left to the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police. And isn't that exactly what we are trying to do here? Once they are established to work on their own like that, we will be able to start pulling troops out. Fantastic! Regardless of what you are reading at home and what the idiots like Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan are saying, there is so much progress happening here. There is nothing the media can do to stop that, though they will never report 99% of it. I don't blame the American people one bit for losing hope over this war - the only thing to read about is the latest deaths. Just hold on for one more year - even those who watch CNN couldn't be fooled to believe we haven't accomplished a great thing.

I am doing well here - got some cookies from Kathy - thanks Kathy! Wonderful cookies, snickerdoodles, my favorite! I will talk to everyone soon!

Phil

2005-10-15T18:18:00.000-04:00

I know everyone may be wondering how I am doing, but there are more important things afoot on the 15th of October this year: the vote on the constitution in Iraq. From my point of view here in Baghdad, I have heard very little the last two or three days of any violence. On most normal days we hear booms and gunfire here and there, but the last three days have been very quiet. This seems to be a pretty pitiful great offensive from al Qaeda in Iraq. The voting has gone off without much of any violence at all except against the Sunni political party the Iraqi Islamic Party. It seems that there were some late additions or corrections to the constitution that appealed to the party and they were immediately attacked because of it.

This is a great day for Iraq and a pitiful display of defeat for the insurgency here. I am relatively certain the constitution will pass from what I have been reading, but I guess only time will tell. Sadly, I doubt that many of you will read much good news or hear much good news on CNN or NBC. But that is the way it goes here. Just understand when you read this that good things are being accomplished here. This is not an unwinnable war and Iraq will overcome the difficulties set before it with our help and eventually on its own.

Many liberal critics and peace nuts at home really seem to believe that the "freedom fighters" here will leave Iraq once we leave - the latest captured letter from one al Qaeda leader to Zarchawi plainly says the exact opposite. Their objectives are written out in stages:
"The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.
The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate...
The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq."

There are people in this world that will not listen to any amount of peace talks or political crap - these people will be dealt with now and by the US military, the coalition forces and by the Iraqi people because they must be dealt with. To allow this terror to spread would be a horrible and terrible crime against the rest of the world.

I hope you enjoy the reading! I am doing very well, thanks to the support from certian wonderful people at home. Lisa from Soldiers Angels has been fantastic! She has gotten me a few pieces of equipment that were much needed and has truly been a blessing to me and to my guys here. Susan sent me a camera (my first one broke a while back - very sad) so I will have lots of good pictures for everyone when I get home. And Mom hooked me up with some delicious cookies and some vitamins from home. There is a lot happening here, but I am safe and enjoying my time here as much as I can. Thanks to everyone once again for being there for me and praying hard for our safety. Four more months and I will be on my way home!

Talk to you soon.
Phil

Ah Marines...

2005-09-25T11:17:00.000-04:00

Check this Marine out! I think I might have done the same thing in his situation...

Go get 'em!

2005-09-25T10:34:00.000-04:00

Now I don't claim to know very much about the Israel/Palestine situation, but what I do know is that I cannot stand a terrorist agenda that targets civilians. Here in Iraq, I can understand attacking the military forces here - we are trained to fight back and are it is our duty to be here. But when some coward launches a bunch of rockets into your back yard at innocent people, it is time to kick some ass. This is exactly what Ariel Sharon was thinking. I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again - don't mess with Israel! The Palestinians haven't even had the Gaza strip for two weeks and they feel the need to launch 40 rockets over the wall? Amazing! Well I hope the 200 terrorists Israel rounded up in retaliation is only a handful when they are all finished.

For anyone who doesn't understand the terms, the rocket attacks you hear about are artillery rockets like this one that are launched out of various types of tubes or from vehicles like the MLRS system the US uses. The insurgents here or in Palestine aren't well trained in launching artillery such as these, so they basically launch them in a general direction and run away. It is this type of cowardly behavior that angers me so much - it is so rare that any soldiers are hurt by these type of attacks, but the damage to civilians can be terrible. Without the protection of body armor and armored vehicles, these rockets are very deadly to anyone who happens to be nearby.

Hope you enjoyed the news and the military info! More to come!

Phil

So busy!

2005-09-20T10:27:00.000-04:00

I apologize for the length of time in between posts, our internet has been down for a while and my schedule has gone from busy to ridiculous lately. It is about to get just slightly worse, which is fantastic (sarcasm!). I apologize for not having much time, but I am doing just fine. Susan sent me 5 or 6 packages in the mail of soup and protein powder recently - I have been saving them because each one has a note or a card in it. Also included was the C.S. Lewis Narnia series! Thanks babe! My mom sent me some delicious cookies recently as well, which I devoured very quickly.

On a sad note, Michigan got smoked by Notre Dame - Jesse is going to talk a bunch of smack I am sure. But the Michigan State beat ND on their own home field! Ouch! If only I didn't despise State more than ND... And then the Lions got crushed by the Bears. Not a great last couple weeks for my football teams. Perhaps this coming weekend will be better for the Wolverines...

On a separate note, I found a couple really neat programs that help support troops like me. If you are interested in sponsoring a soldier to send him or her letters and packages and needed equipment check out Soldiers Angels and Operation AC. I signed up for a soldiers angel recently, I will let you know how it goes. Friends of mine have received some great support from these organizations and I would highly recommend getting involved if you have a desire to support our soldiers who are far from home.

I have lots more to write but no time at all... Very sad. I will be posting as often as I can. Be safe! Talk to you all soon!
Phil

A new look!

2005-09-04T13:36:00.000-04:00

Hey, I am an idiot! I figured out how to change things around a bit - added some links on the side bar - political blogs and sites that I go to as often as I can. And I changed the colors around a bit as well. I hope every enjoys the changes - if anyone has a site that they would like me to link to let me know - I will consider putting it on here. Just remember, this is a dictatorship, not a democracy! I've got the power!!! (C&C music factory... anyone remember that one?)

I also added a little thing to prevent spam from entering my comments - sick bastards... cluttering up my page, I'll show them... And I updated my profile! I even added a picture - I've been meaning to get around to it, just been a little busy lately.

Enjoy the changes! Talk to you soon.
Phil

New Air Conditioner!

2005-09-02T16:24:00.000-04:00

So after repeated efforts to fix my A/C, they finally gave up and gave us a new one! Ah...... I cannot tell you what such a simple thing can do for morale. Sleep was difficult in the nasty heat of my room, but now it has returned to a "sleep sanctuary." I will very soon be enjoying the cool air and the soft sheets of my bed.

Anyone been watching the Lions this year? I have heard some troubling rumors... What's the deal Sidd? Frank? I know you guys are always watching the Lions, cheering them on. I am sad to be missing the U of M football season - we have a cable TV somewhere around here that can get the games, but the time is usually way too weird for me to try to watch it. I can't really afford to stay up to the lonely hours of the night most days.

So I actually had a day off today! First one in a while, it was great. I got some much needed emailing done, worked on my vehicle and even watched some of the OC - my new favorite show. Sad, I know, but it is intriguing. Susan is also hooked, but the guys here are beyond addicted. My squad has the first two seasons on DVD and we watch an episode nearly every day. It's like heroin...

Hope everyone is doing well!
Phil

Quick update

2005-08-31T14:14:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, just saying hi and letting everyone know I am ok. Things here have been fine since coming back from home. It's been over a month now - seems like forever ago I was home, but at the same time I can still remember it like it was yesterday. I can't decide if time is going by quickly or slowly - things are so hectic sometimes I can't tell.

My life has been very very busy lately - some changes have happened lately and they have kept me very very busy. Susan and I have had very little time to talk, not such a nice thing when trying to readjust to being apart again. But we will survive, she is a tough girl and she loves me more than I deserve, so I don't worry. I can't even describe how wonderful it is to have her there for me everyday. Along with my parents and a bunch of other friends and relatives, she has been my motivation everyday. Thank you again to all of you for your support, but she gets the biggest one!

Other than that, not much has been going on. I'm over the half way mark and hoping the heat will start to ease up - perhaps even start getting back in the double digits! Wouldn't that be nice?

Talk to you all soon...
Phil

An amazing story from Iraq

2005-08-22T09:52:00.000-04:00

It's not often that I find good news in newspapers at home, but this one is a must read! This is moving to say the least and speaks not only of how a free Iraq is much better off than it was under Saddam, but also of the love and care that good people in the US are making a difference from home. Check it out!

-Phil

-Thanks to Power Line for the link.

Machine guns and boat races

2005-08-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I have had a busy week - which is good, normally I don't have a whole lot to say about what my life is like here, since I don't do a whole lot of cool stuff. But this week I finally went to a gun range! I was beginning to give up on my command - I figured they would never get us any trigger time, but after two months in a row of me having to speak up at our company meetings, it finally paid off. I qualified on the M240 B - the Army's main machine gun! Here is a link if you want to see what it looks like. My new favorite weapon to shoot! It is an absolute dream to fire and I am downright frightening behind it! Victory is mine!

On a fun note, my squad had a great time tonight at the Baghdad Rigatta (spelling?). The Embassy in the International Zone (or the green zone) put on a contest to anyone willing to participate - build a raft using only water bottles and duct tape! The contest had three parts: best looking raft, fastest time for the race, and the best team work. Sadly, my team was robbed of the first one! We didnt stand a chance to win the other two, but we really worked hard to make our raft look sweet! We built a pirate pontoon boat - fully equiped with a "jolly roger" pirate flag, two cannons on the front bow, a gigantic steering wheel, and a outboard motor - all made out of tape and water bottles! Sadly the best looking raft was not judged, it was voted upon by people at the Embassy pool. One of the other boat crews had a ton of friends show up and vote for them (not to mention they were girls in bikinis - we didn't stand a chance!) So even though their boat was not cool looking at all, they won that one... Sad...

Well, other than that, not much is happening. It's pretty hot here most days, hopefully it will cool off soon. It's been around 120 everyday for a month now - ouch! The air conditioner in my room broke! Ah!! We're working on getting it fixed - let's hope it doesn't take as long as getting ammo...

Stay tuned for more fun stories and politics!
Phil

Recent news headlines from accross the pond...

2005-08-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

So I have been hearing a few things about Cindy Sheehan lately and I thought I would steer some of my friends and relatives to a post I read at another blog that might help everyone understand why this mission is important.

This blog is written by two Iraqi citizens and they always have incite into things that amazes me.
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2005/08/message-to-cindy-sheehan.html

Yes, it is absolutely tragic that Cindy lost her son in Iraq. I cannot even imagine how that must feel. But for our president to listen to her cries to bring the troops home would be a disaster beyond our scope of recognition. How many millions of Iraqi mothers would be mourning the deaths of their children if we just left while things are just getting started?

More to come! Stay safe!
Phil

Back in Iraq

2005-08-01T14:03:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, just letting you guys know that I am safely back in Baghdad. I was home for a few weeks on leave and now it is back to work. I had a wonderful time, better than I thought possible. I have lots to talk about but I am so jet lagged (and I need a shower! Gross!) I will post more when I can about my adventures at home and my return to Iraq.

Phil

Can't keep my mouth shut this time...

2005-06-25T15:19:00.000-04:00

So I use Yahoo e-mail and I happen to come accross their homepage now and then and browse through the news articles they post on there, mostly from the Associated Press. Today I ran accross an article that spotlights everything I dispise about the main-stream press and their seething hatred toward the US military in Iraq. It is one thing to disagree with us being here, that is one of the things that makes our country so great. But when you are a reporter you are supposed to put your biases aside and report news, not take the one bad thing that happened that day and make outrageous claims from it. Here is what I am talking about:

This article is talking about the female Marine who was killed by a car bomb a day or two ago in Fallujah. This is a terrible tragedy and definitely should be reported, don't get me wrong. The article begins to explain that Fallujah was a huge hotspot for insugents here for a while until the US went in and drove them out. According to the author, this car bomb "suggested Iraqi insurgents may have regained a foothold in Fallujah." How does a car bomb suggest that they have regained anything? I do not understand. This wasn't a frontal assault on American troops, it was probably a lone driver with a bunch of explosives waiting to blow himself and whatever American soldiers he could find. The author goes on to say that because of the lack of front lines in Iraq, there have been a "high number of female casualties." But if you read a bit further, you'll find that there have only been 36 female deaths in Iraq in over two years! How is that a high number? Not all of them were combat related! Consider the rate of auto accidents in the US and I would say that if the 11,000 female soldiers in Iraq were at home, 36 of them might have died because of car crashes. And that number doesn't include the previous female soldiers who were here the first two rotations through Iraq.

After describing the attack would be a great time for the author to talk about the positive things that are happening all around the country. Like the new schools that are being built, the increasing employment, the booming cell phone business, the humanitarian aid, or even some stories of how soldiers put themselves into dangerous situations everyday to protect each other and Iraqi civilians from harm. Instead the author goes into the latest deaths and explosions from yesterdays news. How perfect for this article to end on a negative note.

My favorite words used in this article are "raging insurgency" and "relentless carnage!" For anyone who has looked at previous situations dealing with insurgents, this is not a raging insurgency. Grozny was a great example of a raging insurgency. Thousands and thousands of Russian troops were killed taking one city. The author claims that Fallujah was "invaded by U.S. forces at great cost." (Any soldier writing this article would have used the term "liberated.") As I remember, the press predicted that we would lose hundreds of soldiers, even thousands just like Grozny. There were less than 30 killed taking an enormous city with more than 4000 insurgents that were bunkered down in very very well fortified positions. We have lost less than 1500 in combat throughout the entire country in over two years. I say again, this is not a raging insurgency.

The insurgents here are desparate and are waging a losing battle. The Saddam loyalists are dwindling and the insurgency continues to rely on outsiders who care nothing for Iraq or the Iraqi people. The Iraqi soldiers and the Iraqi people I come into contact with are so fed up with innocent Iraqis getting killed, and that is what will hurt this insurgency the most. To be effective and to win, the insurgents must have the backing of the people of Iraq, but they will never have that. The only voices that have emerged from this are not enough to unite anyone - more and more the Iraqi people realize that needless violence is doing nothing but killing Iraqis and impeding their freedoms and their new government from actually taking over for themselves.

I cannot understand how this reported is allowed to publish such garbage. What could possibly be wrong with actually reporting the news rather than making outrageous claims and overexaggerating statistics? This type of reporting is so unbelievably biased, it is disgusting. I cannot believe that there are Americans out there that take this type of news seriously, but I guess not everyone reads my posts...

The pool is lovely!

2005-06-25T14:35:00.000-04:00

Wow, so I just got back from the pool, what a way to wind down a hot day! I jumped off a 25 foot high dive! Pretty good for me, I am kinda deathly afraid of heights. It was really nice though, they have a spring board set up for fun cannon balls and such, plus a water-basketball and water volleyball area. It is very nice, and only a short walk from where I am staying. Sadly this was a one time thing I think and won't be able to go back to that pool, but there is a pool that we go to nearby to relax at and get a little sun.

The living conditions at the new place are really nice. My room is perfectly dark and the air conditioner works very well. One of my roomates wakes up after our first night here and says, "Oh! It's like a sleep sanctuary in here!" It is quite nice, and I only have two roomates rather than 11 like the last place. The food here sucks and the phones suck, but my team leader and I actually drive back to where we used to live most nights after work and eat dinner there and use the phones for a little while. It is nice because then I can talk to Susan nearly every night.

So I found out just recently that I am coming home! I am so excited! I get to come home for two weeks in July to get away and relax a little bit. I can't believe it, but I will actually be able to make my brother's wedding afterall! I am just floored that it all worked out. I have been missing home a lot lately, but soon I won't have to anymore! Ah, I can't wait. I am going to be gone a lot, the wedding is in New Mexico and I plan on staying in Grand Rapids with Susan's family and running away for a few days to a secret place with her for a few days to get away from everything. Other things on the agenda include a bar night with friends and a day of expressing our second ammendment rights at the gun range! I can't wait.

Well, I am off to bed for now, I will post one or two more before coming home. Until then, God bless. Hopefully I will see many off you soon.

Phil

Moving!

2005-06-11T15:24:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? Yeah, it's been a while, I don't mean to worry people. I forget that many of you watch the news and may get the impression that I am in Vietnam. I am doing just fine here - working occasionally and keeping busy during my free time. Things have been pretty quiet here for the most part, everyone in my unit is fine except one who left for Germany with a neck injury - but that was from long ago, not from anything here. We are in the middle of moving right now to a new FOB (forward operating base). It is close by and just as safe as where I am now, but the living conditions are not as nice. I'm not worried about it, just the phone situation is going to really suck! Susan and I talk on the phone every day if we can, that may have to change at the new place. :( But - as the song says - "Love will find a way!" The cool thing about the new place is that there is a pool nearby! I have been working hard on my "soldiers tan." Far worse than a farmers tan, this is where only my hands and face get tan - it looks pretty ridiculous, let me tell you. We wear long sleeve everything, so you can get the picture. Actually, it's not even my whole face, it kind of ends at the middle of my forehead, and only recently have I gotten rid of the sunglasses tan. Anyway, I hopefully will get some sun by the pool on my days off.

Soon I should find out if I get to come home on leave, hopefully in the next week or two. It would be wonderful to get out of here for a little while! I miss the little things at home that I took for granted - like Taco Bell! Mmmm... Most of all, I miss Susan, though. Not surprising, I guess. She is an amazing woman... I have been missing upnorth a lot. My parents have taken a couple vacations lately and sent me pictures of the nice sandy beaches and the boat. There is plenty of sand here, just no wonderful beach.

So I have heard it was 90 degrees in Michigan this past week. Amazing for june, eh? I honestly wonder how it compares to here - people are always like, "well, at least it's a dry heat there." Well, yes, but it was 113 the other day! I don't care how dry it is, that's outrageous! Someone compared it to having a big blow dryer follow you around all day. I seriously wonder how people live here... I have heard that it will only get hotter, too. Ouch! 125? 130? We'll soon find out. Summer is about to arrive, I shudder at the thought of it getting too much hotter. Today was rather nice, but that's because the wind kicked up so much sand it blocked the sun from heating things up too much. Ewww...

Other than the heat, my life here is pretty good. I have internet, and phones, and sometimes good food. Soon I will have some access to a pool and hopefully I will get home in the next month of so. Wouldn't that be wonderful! I will keep you all posted!

Lots and lots of thanks to Mom and Dad for sending me lots of good stuff - deoderant, alarm clocks and pictures from home! Susan is always sending me lots of fun stuff, but that's cause she is wonderful! I have recieved lots of emails and prayers which I am very thankful for everyday! I really appreciate the support I get from everyone. I miss all of you and hopefully I will be home soon!

God bless
Phil

Happy mother's day!

2005-05-09T08:51:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! To all the mother's out there, Happy Mother's Day! I hope everyone's holiday was great! I was able to call home to catch Mom and Grandma (plus my big sister and two brothers were in town! how do you like that? got 'em all in one call!) for their big day, it was great!

So things here in Baghdad have been going well. The weather was pretty nice for a few days - only 80-90 degrees out, but today it got nasty again - i think it hit 98 or so today. Ugh! But other than that it has been very nice being here. I am settled in pretty well, I even have sheets on my bed! Not to mention all the other frills that we are putting into our room to keep us busy. I think one of the hardest things here is passing the time. If I keep busy the time goes really fast, but if there is nothing to do, it creeps by. So we have video games and books and movies galore to make sure we keep our minds off of home. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind thinking about home, but the more I think about it, time seems to go slower. So lately I have been keeping myself as busy as possible. I have been lifting as well, so I feel healthier! I am trying to gain weight, but I don't eat very well or very much, so Susan is finding me some weight gainer protein. Yuk! (Not Susan, the protein!)

No fun trips lately, I do have some pictures of some cool stuff around here, but I am not quite sure how to post pictures on this site, I will find out and put some good pics of Baghdad and me up for you guys. My squad had the afternoon off today, and we were going to do some site seeing and picture taking, but it was hazy out today, so we stayed in. Most people ask me, "Are you in out in the desert?" When I was in Kuwait, I was really in the desert, but in Iraq I am actually in the city. We don't see a whole lot of sand here, and actually there are a ton of trees and green things around. Two major rivers flow right through Baghdad, the Tigris and the Euphraites, so the irrigation systems bring water to the vegetation.

Well, it is time for dinner. I hope everyone is having a great month of May! Can you believe that it is May already? Summer is coming soon! In Michigan that would be great! Summer here kind sucks - 130 degrees! Ouch!

Talk to you all soon!
Love Phil

Picture time! Sort of...

2005-04-27T12:55:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, what's up? I hope everyone is doing well! I am doing very well here in lovely scenic baghdad! Actually, it isn't as desert like here as you might expect. I am in the middle of an enormous city and we are near the two major rivers here, so there is a ton of green stuff around, you know trees and grass and stuff. It could be a really nice city here if it weren't for all the concrete barriers and barbed wire everywhere...

I went to a different camp not too long ago where I think Saddam used to live in this ridiculous palace. There is a huge man made lake out front that had really blue clear water in it - it turns out that the reason it is so blue is because the bottom is made out of tile! I cannot imagine how expensive that would have been to put in... But the water looked like it was part of an exotic island advertising campaign! Amazing... There was also a pool that was built in the middle of the lake with a walkway out to it with a hot tub and everything that soldiers can use, but wouldn't you know it I didn't have my bathing suit on me that day... (Maybe that should have been part of my list of sensitive items to bring with me.) Here is another palace there that we saw, didn't get inside of it, but it looked pretty sweet from the outside. I'm sure some armerican general probably lives there, that jerk! JK. When we were leaving a blackhawk helicopter landed right next to us and nearly sat down right on top of the hummer next to me, it was sweet! He flew right over top of us! Scared the crap out of me at first, we didn't hear him coming in at first. Here is a picture from my helicopter... i'm just kidding, i wish i was cool enough to fly a helicopter, these photos are someone elses that I found online. :) For more click here! And for this eagle, I think he needs some anger management...

Anyway, this has been fun! I hope you are enjoying my pictures of Iraq! I think I am going to try to get m own album up on that site so I can post some pics of me on there! Wouldn't that be exciting!

Well, I am doing just fine here, missing home of course, but that is what happens when you have everything in the world to look forward to when you get home! My unit is healthy and safe and we are nearly two months into our time here already! Amazing how time flies when you are having fun!

Talk to you all soon!
Love Phil

It's Friday!

2005-04-22T12:33:00.000-04:00

Man I miss Fridays at home - it has been too long since I have had a cold beer and game of darts! However, I had the day off today, so it was a pretty good Friday. I stayed pretty cool today staying inside - it was nasty out! We had a thermometer out in the sun today - 120! Gross. But it was a cool 102 in the shade! Ahhh... See, you think I am complaining now, it is only spring here! Just wait till summer...

Lot's of birthdays this month: Jeff and Beth turned 25 a few days ago! Mike V. and Amber M. turn 24 next week! And John (big brother!) turns 28 soon! Holy crap you are old! Just kidding, it's how old you feel not how old your age says you are. Happy birthday everyone! April is obviously the best month to have a birthday in, so consider yourselves lucky!

Not a ton going on here, to be honest - nothing really funny has happened since my last post, so sorry, no story time this time. We hear rumors about things happening around us, but you have to figure that the news on tv reports from the whole country of Iraq and we only see our immediate area. My unit has been fortunate to not have any real incidents, and we are all safe and sound. I have been keeping busy as much as possible - writing a lot, reading a lot and I have started a serious workout program. It is great to get back into lifting again, I feel healthier and hopefully I will gain some weight before I come home. Speaking of home, it may not be too long before I get home for two weeks of leave. I will let you all know of course, but I am trying to come home in July for John's wedding, no word on if it will really happen yet, but that's only a couple months away - I have been gone nearly four now, so less than three months should go by pretty quick I hope!

Well, it's time to go to sleep soon, big thank you to all of the packages that I hear are on the way: Jeff and Beth claim that a belated birthday present is on the way, Mom and Dad sent me some sheets and other goodies, and Susan is helping me with my lifting by sending me some supplements and some books! Am I loved or what? I'm sure if Jeff had his way he would send a booby trapped package to scare the crap out of me when I open it, but he is too afraid of the consequences! That's right, Jeffrey, I just called you out! Whatcha gonna do about it?

Talk to you all soon!

Phil

Sorry!

2005-04-15T15:14:00.000-04:00

So I have to apologize for the ridiculous time in between my last post and this one, I have been quite busy, sadly and haven't taken the time to post in a while. However, I do have a special treat for all of you - STORY TIME!!!

Now, I will be careful, because I am obviously limited in the details I am allowed to provide, but I would like to tell you a story of a few mornings ago. Many of you probably heard of the two car bombs that were set off around the Green Zone (or the International Zone) a few days ago. Now I realize that this is not something to joke about, but my initial reaction was unique, so I aplogize aheah of time if I offend anyone by making light of this situation. Here is my side of that story:

So it's mid morning, I am sitting at a post where it is my job to watch and listen with a bunch of other guys doing the same. Now, your eyes start to see weird things if you stare at the same thing for too long, so we rotate out often. This keeps us much more alert and helps the time go by quicker because I can read or write letters in between when it is my turn or talk with the boys or eat or rest, whatever. Now, this particular morning I am resting my eyes, relaxing from a very short nights sleep the night before. My friend next to me is reading - also on a break. I slowly feel the sleep monster start jumping on my head, gently at first and then a little bit more. But I don't really mind, there is no problem with dozing off for a bit. Ahhh.... BOOM!!!! A blast louder than I can begin to explain jerks me awake and I fall out of my chair! My chair neatly breaks and my heart went from slow to ludicrous speed in less than a second. "Holy crap!! What the heck was that!?" I look around and everyone else is 1.) a little freaked out, and 2.) looking at me like I'm a frickin weirdo! BOOM!! Another blast goes off, louder than the first just as I am picking my chair back up. I jump like Michael Jordan at a dunk contest and again everyone is looking at me like I'm dumb. "Phil, it's like two miles away, chill out!" "I'm cool guys, I'm cool." No! Your not!

So I had a rough time trying to rest during my next time down for the remainder of that day...

Well, thankfully, that has been our exitement for the most part. It is generally pretty peaceful around here. We are very blessed to be here now rather than 6 months ago. It has calmed down so much... Other than that, my time here is going very quickly and very smoothly. I am working out pretty often and eating relatively well. I miss darts at ABC and cold beers on tap, but there are so many people out there supporting me - I am really having it pretty easy thanks to them. I recieve a ton of birthday wishes and presents! Mikey (little brother!) sent me some great CDs and books on CDs that I love! The parents sent me a battery operated fan and cookies! I can't believe they were still delicious when they finally got here. And Susan sent me devotional books and had the best birthday card of them all! We have a winner! I love you Susan! I have heard a rumor that there are more on the way from Jeff and Beth, I will keep you updated.

One last thing, Jeff and Janell are engaged! Can you believe it? Can you believe she said yes? Not nice, I'm just kidding Jeffrey, I truly hope that everything goes fine at your wedding, lucky for you I probably will not be home yet to be your best man! I can only imagine how much fun I could have giving your toast! Ah... the roast of Jeff... My God bless your marriage! Congrats Jeff!

Got to get going, I will post a much sooner post this time, I promise.
Phil

Driving like a bat out of hell!

2005-04-03T08:52:00.000-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything! I have been crazy busy until today, and I have finally started returning some emails that I have been putting off. We had a slow day today (our first one in a long long time!) so we headed out to another camp to get some work done on our vehicles (fixed my air conditioning, yeah!). it was neat, we stopped by a bunch of shops to buy some dvds and things. anyone need movies? i can get movies here for about a dollar a piece. i have bought probably 60-80 dvds in the week or two i have been here. :) it keeps me busy if i have time at night to sit around, which is rare.

so now to the title of my post, i have to tell you about driving an american convoy in iraq in the red zone: it is exhilarating! we drive down the middle of the road and part the traffic like moses and the red sea! it's nuts! everyone who sees us coming will skid off the road and turn on their flashers so we can get by, and then when we pass they stay back a couple hundred yards. it is really really crazy when traffic gets bad - if we getting stuck in traffic we will just jump the median and drive right into oncoming traffic! it is the weirdest thing i have ever witnessed. aparently it happens quite often because the civilians on the road just pull off and wave as we drive by. it sure does get the heart rate up! when we pass by villages it is really neat to see the kids come running up to our vehicles and wave to us, at first we were worried about them running into the street, but they are smart enough to stay back a little bit, but they are always so excited to see us come by. we sometimes bring food and candy to toss to them, it is pretty cool.

well, other than that, things are pretty quiet here, i am settling in pretty well, we have a tv now in our room, and they have hooked up internet lines in our rooms as well, but they are slower than slow most of the time. it reminds me of the days of dial-up internet. (sorry to offend anyone out there who still uses dial up.) i am able to get on the phone every couple days, sometimes the phones go down, but most of the time they are pretty reliable. the only thing that is a problem is that they don't have regular phone lines here, i have a ton of at&t phone cards that are useless here. they have special phone cards for the phones that i think i can only buy here. oh well, it's not expensive, so i am not worried at all.

anyway, i am doing very well, i can't say it enough: thank you all for your support. i have gotten a ton of birthday e cards and emails. i had a rough birthday, we were up till 2am and then had to get up again at 4:30am for more work. however, the head pastry chef found out it was my birthday from one of the guys who works at our dining facility, and he baked me a birthday cake! it had my name on it and everything, it was awesome! it made my day a little better (plus the birthday cards and emails!)

time for dinner! i'll write more soon.
phil