Sunset

Runninga 5K this morning

No big deal. just have to get back into the swing of this blog. Looks like i may be leaving Ali Base at the end of may and becoming a roving journalist out of baghdad for June, then home.  Okay, let's see if I can upload a photo or if this is still a slllloooooowwwwwww connection.

I'm back

Almost at the halfway mark! February was a difficult month and I'm glad it is almost done. Everyone is very busy during work hours and by the time I see my bed again, all I could think of was sleep. And I think I was battling a little depression during Feb. Not about being here or what I am doing, just a few life issues...so I'm back now. I will post some pictures tonight. Hope everyone is doing well!

1/2 Marathon

Photos by SMSgt Elizabeth Gilbert

Tickler Pickler

My photos from the Bedrock Bulletin. The ezine we produce every week.

Kellie Pickler USO concert

Me and the Zig

Ziggurat

Ziggurat in the background

by the Guard Shack

Another of me and my gurkha buddy.

Gina

Italian writer

Where I want to go.

The Ziggurat of Ur. Very impressive. There used to be a large center-piece in the middle, possibly two or three times the height of the existing structure. Used as a temple, Ziggurats were constructed all over mesopotamia. Next to this structure is the city of Ur, including the House of Abraham. This was his 'hood when he was growing up to about 60 years old. Course, he lived to be hundreds of years old. People lived to be very old in the old testament. After he developed the monotheism theory, he set off from here to Egypt to spread the word.

Gurkha

My Gurkha bud.

Kabobs

Cooking meat.

Journalists

My boss with some of the attendees.

Can you guess which one she is?

Seminar

An Italian journalist addresses the throng.

Interpreter

An Iraqi interpreter. Thank heavens.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that the kabob was "meat."

Burkhas

Iraqi women journailists

Seems like forever

Since I posted here. Let's see, we've had a USO show with Kellie Pickler. That was entertaining. She had two country rockers with her that actually entertained the troops more. But I give her credit; this is her third USO tour of the AOR. So good on her.

Went outside the wire yesterday to an Iraqi Women Journalists meeting. Wondering why i was there? I was the 'battle buddy' for SMSgt Elizabeth Gilbert who attended the get-together. All the women in burkhas and the men, or 'shepards', there to be sure they were safe. Actually, the men I spoke to told me how dangerous it is to travel between provinces, especially for women.

We had lunch there as their guests. Some type of kabob with rice and soup. Everytime I asked what the kabab was, the answer was "Meat." Hmmm.

Travelled  there and back in an armored Toyota SUV. Very interesting. They look almost normal but must weigh a ton. I want one. Gas milage be damned.

The multi-national camp we went to is guarded by ex-ghurkas. As you know, the Ghurkas are a regiment of the British Army from india/Nepal. Most of the lads i spoke with were from Nepal. Retired from the british Army and volunteered for the MNF (Multi National Force) for Afghanistan and Iraq. One fellow had his convoy blown up three times and once ambushed. But he declared Iraq "Relatively safe now." So everything is cool.

Drove within about two miles of the Ziggurat, the 5,000 or so year old structure built by the ancient Mesopotamians or Sumarians. We aren't allowed to tour the site (for safety reasons) since we turned it over to the Iraqis. But i got some good shots anyway.

While at the journalists siminar, I met a couple french writers and an Italian woman journalist working different stories here in Iraq. They live an interesting life, working in a war zone.

I will post some pictures shortly. Go Vikes! They'll be live on tv tonight, at 2:30 am. So I guess I'll be a little tired tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well.

Still here

Haven't posted in a while. We've been very busy here. The base is in the middle of a drawdown of forces, getting ready to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. As the force gets smaller, the work load remains the same. This weekend I will try to figure out how to post a link to our base newspaper, the Bedrock Bulletin, that we produce in our office. Plenty of stories and videos.

Weather is nice, usually in the 70's every day. Suspect it will be getting warmer every day till we're in the 100's. Anyway, I will post some more pictures this weekend. Hope everyone's doing well!

Training Iraqi firefighters

Makes our trailers look like paradise!

More Iraqi army

Mid-morning exercise.

Iraqi Army

Camp Ur enlisted living tents.

To be replaced by metal barracks.

Happy New Year

Been a rather lousy day, but those are to be expected. Happy new year's everybody from the land of the midnight trash burning pits. No one is really into environnmental considerations here. So everything is burned. Large, billowing black clouds of god knows what type of carcinogens floating over the base.

Enough of that! Let's post some pictures! That's what we're all here for.

Adm. Mullen at news conference with local media.

Adm. Mullen in a closed meeting with Iraqi military and civilian leaders.

Very cool to be a fly on the wall.

Admiral Mullen, Chairman, joint Chiefs of Staff, and wife Deborah.

I played paparazzi to him all day.

USO Tour with Anna Kournikova.

We had a nice time together.

For 3.2 seconds as she got off the C-130.

Iraqi Special Forces dude. Crusty Air Force Master Sergeant.

Old Iraqi truck they received from Cuba.

Baldest tires I've ever seen!

Air Force Lt. Col. Ramsay (commander of the Logistics Military Advisory Team),

SSgt Miguel Lara, Iraqi Gen Hassan (I interviewed him), moi, Lt. Korrey Leverett.

Lovely Iraqi countryside. Looked like this everywhere we went.

I'm sure there are nice National Parks somewhere.

Borrowed an AK-47.

Iraqi humvee

Iraqi firefighers. They fought in Iran/Iraq war, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom.

Just not on our side.

But as they said, "We are soldiers and we fight when our country tell us to."

I understand that.

These dudes were soldiers, never terrorists.

Beautiful day at Camp Ur!

Taking a drive in the country!

Hangin' at Camp Ur

In the MRAP.

It's Sunday!

Since we're a day ahead, I'd like to tell you whether the Vike's win or not, but that wouldn't be fair to you.

Anyway, we've been very busy, as usual. This job can be slow or fast. I'm glad the guys I work with like to be busy. Makes the time go faster. Already a month down!

The most interesting part of the past week was going to Iraqi Army base, Camp Ur. Had a great time. Convoyed out there in an MRAP. Ummm, Mine-Resistant ...something. Anyway, a relatively short drive to the camp. On the way, kids ran out to the convoy as the gunner in the last vehicle threw out candy. Good strategy to impress that we are not a threat.

However, the hovels they lived in left a lot to be desired. Basically shit holes. But they were probably the poor and disenfranchised. The Air Force convoy guys told me there were much worse areas in the nearby city.

At Camp Ur, our firefighters were training the Iraqi firefighters. the Camp Ur Fire department had been gifted a brand spankin-new fire truck by a senator from Wisconsin. Of course, it was an Oshkosk truck, made in Wisconsin. Anyway, the truck had great capabilities, but the Iraqis had no clue how to use it. It is an aviation fire truck, the type used at airports.  Powerful water turrets that can knock you into tomorrow. Just a bit of overkill when you are mostly concerned about tent fires and dining hall kitchen fires. So the Iraqi firefighters are trained on the truck now.

I have to figure out how to post a lot of pictures here, as well as the newspaper we put together. And videos. Let me work on that because it takes forever to load one picture to this blog. Time to load some pix and I'll add the stories I've written later today...