The Final Chapter, The Final Page

This is it. This is the final blog from FOB Brassfield –Mora. My bags are packed and the birds are inbound. I am headed out to LSA Anaconda for a few days where we will link back up with our orginal battalion and then we will all head back to the Mother Land!

I honestly can not believe that it is finally here. We are finally going home. We have fought the fight, we have fought it to the standard and we have made a difference. We helped the people of Iraq, we made this area safer, stronger and have helped get them on the path to a better future. There are so many things I will never forget from my times here. This place is full of surprises, horror, and complete and total craziness. Even through all the war and poverty there is still some bleak form of beauty in all the chaos.

More than anything else, I will never forget the soldiers and friends I lost here. During the past 14 months here we have lost 24 guys from this FOB. Six of those soldiers were from my company, a company that consisted of only 75 soldiers that left the safety of the FOB. They were my friends, they were guys I use to joke with and guys I fought side by side with. All good men and all will never be forgotten.

For the past 14 months you all have been so supportive and gracious with all the care packages, comments and cards. You all have been so great and made my life so much better over here. I know I have told you all before, but once again, with all seriousness; Thank you. And finally for the last time from my CHU, take care and I will see you soon and Thank you.

"NEVER FORGET"

1LT Ceroni, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - VBIED
SPC. Winkler, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - VBIED
1LT. Bacevich, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - Suicide Bomber
SGT. Dunn, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - Culvert Bomb
SPC. Jaraguie, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - Culvert Bomb
SPC. Millard, KIA, Samarra, Iraq - Culvert Bomb

SPC. Hall, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Lost his leg from an IED

SGT. James, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Lost his leg from an IED

SGT. Cowart, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Lost his leg from a Suicide Bomber

SGT. Roberti, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Shrapnel from a VBIED

SPC. Ashby, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Shrapnel from a VBIED

SGT. Ford, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Broken Back from a Culvert Bomb

SGT. Brong, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Paralized from a Culvert Bomb

SPC. Hardin, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Lost his hand from and RPG

SGT. Parsons, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Shrapnel Wounds from an RPG

SSG. Crumpler, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Broken Leg from and IED

SGT. Uber, WIA, Samarra, Iraq - Trama to the head from and IED

Team Delta, 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment

82nd Airborne Division

Samarra, Iraq

OIF 6 - OIF 7

OCT 1st 2006 - DEC 1st 2007

“DRAGOONS”

The Farewell Tour

Mission Complete. Finally after 415 days in Iraq, after countless trips up and down Route Tampa, after so many nights at Patrol Base Love; I am complete. I left Holly, my friends, my family and my life on October 1st 2006. From there I had no idea what to expect. It was all still unsure where we would be fighting and what our mission would truly be. All we knew is that we were coming over here and we weren’t coming back anytime soon.

My first patrol was on October 17th 2006. My first IED attack was on that same day. The first time I fired my weapon with intent to kill was that day. That day, that attack just south of the small canal bridge set the pace for what became the wildest 14 months of my life. A year was packed full of roadside bombs, mortar attacks, RPG attacks, small arms attacks, culvert bombs, car bombs and guys wearing suicide vest. I witnessed two IED’s up close and very personally and have the Purple Heart to prove it. I saw it all with my own two eyes and no longer through CNN and FOX News. I finally saw just what it was all about over here, what it truly is to be a soldier and what it is to fight for your life.

But finally here I am, after all of that, sitting in my CHU typing what will be one of the final pages in this chapter of my life. I only got out of my tank and unloaded my weapons just a little over an hour ago. But unless something way out of left field or something terribly tragic happens, that should have been and hopefully will be my last patrol. I am done. I am passing the torch to the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and wishing them the best of luck with this little slice of Hell on Earth. No more Route Tampa. No more Patrol Base Love.

I can’t really describe the feeling. Part of me, if not most of me feels like it’s not even true. Like it’s all a cruel joke and we aren’t really leaving and until we go, “wheels up” and head to Kuwait I imagine it will continue to feel this way. But tonight was my last patrol. Only eight more days on the FOB. Twelve more days left in Iraq and only fifteen more days until I am standing on that parade field… Only fifteen more days…



Note: Due to a blackout this blog not quite so hot off the press. It's like 3 days old.

The Greener Grass

This may come as a shock to some of you. But then again some of you, if not most of you, expected it. I look back and think maybe it was just a bad month, maybe I was just burned out. But after looking at my future and my future with Holly and where we both are in our lives and where we both want to be and what exactly we both want to do; I, with some help from Holly, have decided that it would no longer be in my best interest to leave the Army.

A few months ago when I decided no longer wanted to be a part of this game anymore, I was burned out. I suppose the sun had fried my brain. I, just like everyone else at some point in their career, decided I wanted a change. I wanted to go back to the civilian life and enjoy all the beautiful things that there are out there. I wanted to go back to school and I really just wanted a change of pace.

All of that would be simple if say, I were single and planned on keeping that way. I would have no strings attached and no one else to consider. I would just have to look after me, myself and I. But that is no longer my life. I have Holly, a mortgage, two car payments and a dog to look after. If I were to actually get out of the service, if Holly were to quit her job and the two of us and Lola were to move back to Oklahoma then we would be in pretty rough shape. To go from two full time incomes and full dental and medical benefits to whatever McDonalds starting hourly wage is, would be rather harsh.

Then there is the deep down fact that, I do in fact love the Army. I love the thrill of the fight and the team that I fight with. I love being a part of something bigger and being a part of history all at the same time. I love the challenge and the stress. I love the people and the places both good and bad. I love what I do, (most of the time) and if you are doing what you love to do for a job then where are you ever going to find something better.

Of course there are days when I hate this job. There are days when I would love nothing more than to be a fry cook at Burger King. I imagine that most of you are sitting at a desk right now at a job where you will one day mutter, "I swear, one day, I will burn this place to the ground…"

I have goals that I have set for myself in life and in the Army as well. By the end of November, after I have spent close to 430 days over here I will have accomplished those goals and checked all the boxes on that list of my life. But if I were to leave there would always be that one question that would haunt me to no end.

"Would I have made it as an Army Warrant Officer and as an Army Helicopter Pilot?"

As some of you know, I was working on my packet prior to my deployment but was held up when my left eye failed the flight vision test. I was nearly 90% complete with the whole process of test and paperwork when I hit that roadblock. I am now waiting to get back home and get Lasik surgery on my eye. After that I will once again be able to press on with my flight application. I took all of the test and did extremely well, I have my letters of recommendation and I have my security clearance. I have everything in order, except my left eye. So if I were to part ways this coming summer with the Army then I know for a fact that I would be sitting there one day at my mediocre job thinking, "I wonder if I could have made it…?"

So for that and other extenuating reasons I have decided to retract my previous statement. I have changed my mind. I have seen the error of my ways and on today the 29 th day of October in the year 2007 I re-enlisted in the United States Army for another five years.

This decision doesn't come without perks though. In fact it came with 20,000 tax free perks if you know what I mean. I also was given the option to go to Airborne Training once I get back stateside, where the good people of the Army will teach me how to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. Included with all this I also received a "college option" which means the Army will allow me to pretty much take time off from being a soldier so I can attend the school of my choice within 100 miles of Ft. Hood for 12 semester hours all paid for by the Army and all while still receiving my active duty salary.

So in conclusion I am staying in the Army for five more years starting, today. I will receive a nice sized bonus of $20,000 US dollars all of which is tax free. I will get paid my usual salary to take a semester off work and attend college and I will get to jump out of airplanes for the Army. But most importantly I will get the chance to get my eye fixed up and I will get to submit my packet to become a pilot in the Army and hopefully check the next block on my list.

Breakfast Car Bomb

So after eating so many Army meals for so many days my taste buds have begun to die off and everything from chicken nuggets to spaghetti has begun to taste the same. I rarely even eat at the chow hall any more. The smell in there makes me want to vomit. The walk is ridiculous and the lines are even worse for such poor food. Seriously, death row inmates eat better. The one meal I do make an effort to eat there is breakfast. But with the schedule we are running breakfast seems to be my dinner most of the time. Through out my time here in Iraq however, I have developed my own breakfast meal that I have grown to love. I call it the “Breakfast Car Bomb”

“Breakfast Car Bomb”

Ingredients-
- One serving of scrambled eggs (Must be fake eggs made from powder and fake milk)
- One and a half biscuits ( The softer the better, but "Rock Biscuits" work also)
- One Hash brown (The crispier the better)
- Two Pieces of Bacon (Must be fake bacon and over cooked by like 30 minutes)
- One Big scoop of gravy with sausage tid-bits

Mixing-
- Place the scrambled eggs on the plate first
- Next place the three biscuit halves over the eggs
- On top on that place a layer of cut up hash browns and bacon
- Over everything poor on the gravy evenly coating the entire pile.

Serving-
Prior to eating cut up all the biscuits and stir it all around in to one big mess. Careful not to flip it out all over the table or let the gravy run over the edge. This is a common problem and is very wasteful and not approved of by others.

This meal has become a staple to my rigid diet. It has helped keep this soldier in the fight throughout the year. It has all the food groups except fruit. But fruit is not really a food group, its just there because it’s colorful. So next time you have the family together for Sunday brunch. Fix them up and Breakfast Car Bomb.

“Cause nothing gets your day going like a car bomb!”

Long Time, No Blog

So the real reason for the lack of blogs lately is the fact that I am really freaking busy. But I have a few hours of down time so I thought I would update all my friends and family back home. So here is the latest from Iraq:

- The weather is FINALLY cooling off and at night it almost gets down to “chilly”.

- My replacement is here. That is the reason why we have been so busy, it is that we are training these guys on everything we have learned over the past 13 months.

- I was at a ceremony where I was awarded a coin by Major General Mixon, (Two Star) commander of the 25th Infantry Division and commander of Multi- National Forces Iraq – North. I was given this for my coordination of Close Air Support (Two F-16 fighters) a Scout Weapons Team (Two Kiowa Attack Helicopters) and two Abrams tanks. Using these forces I was able to guide them on to a team emplacing IED’s and wipe them off the face of the planet. That was my second team to destroy that week.

- I have been packing my bags!

- I have been working very hard on my Fantasy Football teams despite having one of the worst teams in the league.

- I have been missing Holly's birthday for the third year in a row. There is always next year!

- I have also been rubbing in our victory to all the Tex-Ass fans I see around here. Boomer Sooner!

Those are just a few of the many things that are going on around this place. Things are rather crazy. We are all busting our humps for the last few weeks to finish a few fights that we started and to ensure that these guys from the 101st Airborne are well trained and educated on everything going on in our AO. I really will try to post more, I swear. I do have some more pictures to post also. Maybe I will get motivated and do that. All I really know is that I am getting closer and closer to getting out of here. I have less than one month of actual combat left. Then someday soon after that… I will be home.

Well That's Just Great

So here I am in Iraq. Obviously I am not in the best of places of situations. But I am making due with what I have and I am getting through the days one by one. But then today someone somewhere decided to add just a little more icing to my cake.

As usual on a payday I go check my bank account online, managed by the good people at Republic Bank and Trust. Well much to my surprise there was not as much money as I had hoped. Upon further investigation I see that there are about 9 charges to my account totaling up to just under a thousand dollars. My first thought was, “What the hell has Holly bought now…” But after a deep breath I knew there was no way it could have been her. I really doubt that she had been shopping on to many baby furniture sites. At least I hoped not.

I call her to let her know what’s going on and as I had hoped it wasn’t her; she would never do such a thing, she is too sweet. But now my fears were starting to come true. Someone has stolen my bank account information.

I get on the phone and call up Republic and I was able to get a freeze put on my account and come Monday when all the charges are processed then we will begin the dispute paperwork and hopefully be able to get our money back. Good thing I am over here and have no need for cash 99% of the time.

Hopefully it will be a quick fix; hopefully I don’t have to go around and around trying to get it all taken care of. Hopefully the good people at Republic can handle this situation. It’s not easy handling normal finance matters while over here and I doubt this will be any easier.

I really want to meet the person or people behind this. They must have been really in need of some high quality baby furniture. I wonder if they will tell there kid one day that all his/her baby furniture was purchased from a stolen credit card? I wonder if they realize what I could do to them.

Overtime

For those that have been counting I will have been deployed for a full twelve months this Monday. Yes that’s right, I have been gone for an entire year. If it wasn’t for that little extension that they hit us with I would be home right now if not on a flight headed that way. Bummer.

Even with about two full months to go signs of change are starting to show around here. Large tents are being put up to house the incoming new soldiers and their equipment is starting to arrive bit by bit everyday. There are even a few 101st Airborne patches walking around the FOB lately. It is just good to see that someone has finally shown up to replace us and we can begin to start packing up and preparing the get the hell on out of here.

What this means to you is that due to my short amount of time left over here you can no longer send any more care packages. I know you all are so saddened by these news. But don’t worry, thanks to your generosity I have plenty of food to make it through the last little bit of time. You all have been so good to me this entire year. I could never thank you all enough.

As for our missions and our continued fight over here, things are still the same for the most part. We are continuing to take the fight to the bad guys and we aren’t letting up just because we are short on time. We don’t want to hand a new unit an area that is all messed up and hasn’t been patrolled or raided in the last thirty days. We would simply be setting them up for failure. They will be fresh and this all takes some time to get use too.

In other news of randomness, I was at the patrol base in the city last night for a good sized mission we were running. While standing around waiting for everything to kick off I was talking to a member of the Navy EOD Team (Explosives Ordinance Disposal, think bomb squad). While talking to him he all the sudden blurts out;

EOD: “Is that really your last name?”
Me: “Uhhh… Yeah, been my last name my whole life.”
EOD: “Holy S***, my ex-wife had the same last name, she took everything from me, even my dog. I hate that b****.
Me: Even the dog? That sucks.

What is so weird about this whole thing is that through out my entire life I have never seen, met or heard of anyone that has my same last name. Well of course there is my immediate family but no one outside of them. Everything I was ever able to trace back showed that my name game from German settlers that came over and settled somewhere in the Ohio and Pennsylvania area. Sure enough this guy and his rather hated ex-wife were from Ohio.

So yeah, that was a rather random story. Just one many I have collected over here. But when you scrape up so many of America’s finest and stuff them all in a sandbox, some rather odd stories will emerge. After living, fighting and sitting on the highway waiting for EOD for 5 hours you even begin to learn too much about the people in your truck.

Over this past year my platoon has grown rather close. Granted that deep inside I think we all really hate one another but on the outside we get along rather well. We all love to make fun of how incompetent out leadership is and how our platoon leader couldn’t lead him self out of a paper bag. We are just like any other group of boys; we like to make fun of each other and just try to have a good time despite what it is we may be doing.

So here we are at the end of the fourth quarter, so let’s all get ready for a little bit of overtime.

All Inclusive Weekend

Tired of work? Need a weekend away? Love to hunt? Well do I have the offer for you! Come on out for a two night stay at Patrol Base Love! That’s right you can get away from it all and spend a relaxing few days getting to know yourself better than ever all while on an unbelievable hunting trip. With such great accommodations and guides for such a great price you won’t believe it. Just read some of the great [awful] things we have to offer here and write down a few tips from previous guest and you will be on your way to a fabulous weekend hunting adventure. This is the only place where the hunted is being hunted too!

First off you will be set up with several experienced guides who will show you everything there is on this hunting trip. No where else can you hunt an animal so wild it just might kill you. You will be fully equipped with an arrangement of weaponry. We offer everything from a 9mm pistol to an Anti-Tank rocket to an actual tank! We offer full training on everything so you will be fully prepared once out in the wilderness.

Just wait until the guys at the office see these pictures!

Your heart will race as you begin your journey to a secluded cottage in the desert. You will pass famous hunting grounds and landmarks like; “The Sombrero” or the “Chicken Farms”, in the distance you will see the famous “Wang Chung Drive-In”. You will see plenty of wild game while on the trip but to bag a trophy you must be patient and wait for the right moment and conditions otherwise you could have your hunting license revoked and you could be sent back empty handed.

Once at the cottage you will be served the finest food there. Everything from frozen chicken nuggets and egg rolls to muffins and cookies. We the truly hardcore we even offer Military MRE’s. On a trip of this caliber you must truly appreciate your surroundings and you will cook your food from a historic [dilapidated] oven that has a famous signature taste. [Burning crumbs caked to the bottom]

Guest Tip: During my stay my plate was attacked by several kittens and I lost all six of my nuggets to them. Remember to never set your plate down and turn your back, you really are in the wild!

Guest Tip: Due to the historic nature of the oven you must be patient. Food takes around twenty minutes to fully cook and it is always a popular place so get there early. Also check the plug, it seems to have been spliced with an old cord possibly to a lamp and if the oven catches fire, don’t worry, it happens all the time! Its part of the experience and it helps add that authentic taste that can only be found there.


After a good meal of nuggets and egg rolls and a full day spent hunting through orange groves and blighted villages. You will head back for a few hours of great sleep in your cozy cottage. With the hand made beds [bunk beds!] you and your fellow guest will grow closer. The hunt can always begin without notice here so to ensure you are ready to go we require our guest to sleep fully clothed and no need to worry about getting tangled in the sheets, because we don’t have linens! That’s right just you and a bare mattress. Then for our repeat customers don’t have to worry about a change because here we have never changed the mattresses so next time you will feel right at home on the same mattress that so many guest have shared.

When the wilderness calls you will be sure to remember this one of a kind bathroom, facility. The quaint bathroom features one toilet and that’s it! No sink, no showers, no time wasted with all that city-boy stuff; we are here to hunt! To add that true feel to the hunt we have limited the running water to only when the power in the nearby city is on and the historic native plumbing won’t accommodate such luxuries like toilet paper so toss your used paper in an empty sandbag and hone your fire making skills and burn it.

Guest Tip: If the water is running you are good to go, if not you maybe waiting for a while. If you can’t make it you can grab a shovel and head to the other side of the berm. The water it truly wild, it is unfiltered and unsanitized. What ever you do not drink it or even touch it. Stick to the bottled water.

Guest Tip: While on my recent hunting trip there was a female there along with us. She was very unhappy with the bathroom facilities or any of the facilities for that matter. I strongly suggest that females not partake in this type of trip. This is only for a real mans-man.

There are count-less other great things that I could go on and on about. But I am pretty sure those few have sealed the deal and have you packing you bags already. It’s cozy and secluded, has everything you need to escape the office and all the problems at home. Hell, when you get back your old problems won’t even seem like problems! So if you need a weekend away or feel like shooting various weapons, just give us a call and we will get you on your way to the hunting trip of a lifetime!

Action Photo

As I imagine you all have noticed my blogging has became less and less frequent. For that I offer no real excuse. I just don’t have much to write about these days. The new has worn off this place, things just aren’t as exciting [To me] and I am just really busy with my fantasy football teams too.

For my lack of writing I offer restitution in the form of pictures of myself and some of the boys doing what we do best, working, laughing and sleeping. I can only imagine how much you all must miss my face so hopefully these pics will fill your hearts with joy. My goal for myself has always been to try and capture as much of this place on film as possible so when I am old and frail I will be able to better tell war stories to my grandchildren. There are about four of us in the platoon that always carry cameras with us. I have also amassed quite the photo collection while over here too. So maybe one lazy day if you ever care to see what this place is really like just ask and I will show you. As for now enjoy these for samples.

[Click To Enlarge]

Keeping a close on someone during a Small Kill Team mission.

My first day of school, 2007.

From "Tower 2" at Patrol Base Love.

Sometimes this is all the sleep you get...