Blowing Stuff Up

We were given a chance to go and blow up some things.  It was a good time.  We used bandoliers, C4, and TNT.  It was a good time…and very loud.

Getting ready to run the wire.

Connecting detonation wire to the bandoliers.

Not the best picture but this is one of the craters after the explosion.

Yes this is someone handing ME some C4!

I thought that this was funny.  On one side it said it was 1 pound of TNT and on the other side it is the it is “equivalent to two 1/2 pound TNT blocks.”  hmmm

This was a good time.  With how flat it is here we had reports over 50 miles away that explosions were heard outside of Najaf.  Always nice to be heard.

Bye.

American Flag

I flew a flag over our FOB for about a month.  It is dirty and a little worn because the wind never stops here.  I will proudly display this in my home.

And now a quote:

“ My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. I confess I had no idea of it myself.” -Thomas Jefferson

Supporting NUCOR in Iraq

Below are some pictures of the NUCOR flag that was given to me by Stan Walker and Dave Olmsted. I thought that it would be fun to fly the flag here.

Bye

Sand Storms and Reconstruction

So we have had a series of sand storms come in. We have had just enough time, it seems, between them to pick up and get ready for the next. Thankfully we have not had one in the last week. But this last week has been spent fixing most of what was broken. I can talk about some of what was broke so here goes.

Our SF Team medic was helping to secure the roof sheeting with sand bags. I did not get pictures of what happen to the roof but let's just say that most of the roof you see now was not there after the next storm.

While we were putting up the sand bags this came in. We spent the next day and half in our rooms playing HALO because you couldn't see in front of you more than 2 feet.

Another picture from the other side.

After most the storms came through this is how we found our "securely covered" .50 Cal Machine Gun. This dust will get in every crack not matter how tight.

You might ask if this what fun to clean this and to answer your question I would probably slap you.

Well all that begins well ends well right. This is me bringing roofing sheets to an Iraqi "contractor." He was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. There were 2 of them and let me tell you if our buildings in the U.S.A. were built by these guys, well, God help us.

I was making fun of a commercial, I have no clue what this guy was doing. (hint: he is an Iraqi)

SPC Owen G. Tapp picking up busted roof sheets WITH NO GLOVES! Yes he cut his hand. I laughed at him.

And this one takes the cake. This is what these guys called a good weld. I am not sure about you but this is what Mr. Summers calls "Goose Shit." (Mr. Summers was my High School shop teacher)

Well it is fun out here. OK so I am lying but we are making the most of it. Thanks for all your support.

Bye.

This is What I Came Back To

Sand storms are so fun. The day after I came back this blew in and stayed to 2 days. Once it settled it covered the rocks with a layer of sand. When you walked over it there were foot prints like walking in snow. It was hot also so when you got all the dust on and in your shoes and then sweat, well then you have mud in your socks and shoes. No I do not like Iraq if that is what you want to ask. Right now it is nice. The sun is out and we have lows of 65 and highs of 90. So it is a lot the same temperature as home. Bad thing is that it is in April so that means that it will only get hotter in the coming months.

Bye.

Helicopters

Here at FOB Endeavor we don't have a landing pad just a big sandy area for the coppers to land. It is fun to watch them to come in because of all the sand it kicks up. They all travel in two and after the first one lands the seconds comes in to land but cannot because of all the dust. It is funny to see them have to take off and circle around and then try. The bad part is it leaves the dust in the air for about an hour.

Coming on it, cannot really see the dust but it is there.

This is one that had to circle around. You see all the dust in the air.

And now taking off.

Too much fun, bye.

Sand Storms

The sky is normally blue, but you add wind and the never ending sand and you get brown skies and dust all over everything. It is almost pointless to dust anything here because it just comes back 10 minutes later. I however being me dust all the time because I hate it. Here are some lovely pictures of what I mean with the not so blue skies we are enjoying right now.

Sorry so long between posts, it isn't like much is going on. I guess that is a good thing considering where I am at. Bye.

Hair Cutting Adventures

So there is an Iraqi guy that comes on the FOB for a few days a week and cuts hair. He charges $5 each for these haircuts. Well the other day I was going through the boxes of soldiers past when I came across some old clippers. I went to the bathroom and did a great job on my sides, but since I don't have eyes in the back of my head I didn't do at all well on the back. So I had Tapp, one of my guys, try to fix it. It turned out all right. In turn I cut his hair for the first haircut I have ever done in my life. Here are some pictures of our fun.

Here is the wonderful job that I did on the back of my head.

Here is what Tapp did to fix it. Not great but better than it was. (no that is not a mole it is a chunk of hair)

Here is the wonderful job that I did on Tapp's hair. I guess it is not bad for my first time.

I cannot wait to be home were my beautiful wife will be there to give me haircuts again. I guess that Tapp will have to do in the mean time.

Shooting the Rifles

Playing sniper is always fun. We shoot here several times a week and this is always my favorite. I welded a bunch of steel plates together for targets and we put them out on a hill ranging from 600 meters to a 1,000 meters. We then shoot from a position in the middle of our FOB. The picture below will illustrate this.

If you look out over my rifle you see three large trucks and a tower to the right of them. Out further from the tower you will see the shadowing from the hill that we put the targets on. So we are, very controlled, shooting over the FOB out into the desert. It is a lot of fun.

This rifle here is a MK13 300 Winchester Magnum. It shoots a 7.62mm (308) 190 grain bullet. It has a Remington 700 bolt action with a Nightforce 5.5x22x56 mildot scope. With the collapsible stock. It is a sweet rifle to shoot. When the bullet hits the steel target it makes a wonderful thud sound.

This rifle is the SR25 EM Rifle. Shooting a 7.62mm 175 grain bullet. It is semi-automatic gas operated. It has a Leupold MK-IV M3 10x mil dot scope. It is also a fun one to shoot.

These are just some random pictures that I took from the tower. This is facing west from our location toward the city of Najaf, Iraq. In the left of the picture is a large power plant.

This picture is facing the east of our location. The plant that you see there is a cement plant. As you can see there is not much out here but flat and sand. It is a very small base that we are on. Sometimes it feels like a prison that we are in; the difference is that we do the security for our own prison. Now that sounds funny.

Bye.

Good Times

I get to meet a wide variety of people here. It is always fun to see how different people are and how different the cultures are. Needless to say that are not sure how to take me (as is the same with most of the people that know me anyway). Most of the Iraqis love us here and they want to be like us. The try to do what we do and wear what we wear. They always say, "I love America, America good." Of coarse so hate us and I hope to never meet those ones.

Here is one of my interpretors (terps) try to fix a radio. I don't think he knew what the heck he was doing but it was fun to watch him try. He is a great guy. It is so funning to tease him because he does not understand sarcasm at all so he gets confused easy.

Now this guy. He is the "American Lover." He dresses up in anything American, mostly uniforms. We call him Rambo because he usually wears a bandanna, either a green one or here has a American Flag one also. It is so fun to talk to him. He will also do anything you say. When the Iraqi Army guys come around we tell him to give them kidney shots and he does it every time. What can I say simple humor for simple people. The IA guys don't find it funny but oh well. They are good humored about it. We do it because it is funny that if we told Rambo to jump off a cliff he would probably do it.

Bye.

A Workout Like None Other

My team and I participated in a physical training event today with some "elite" people. It was very difficult but very fun. It is not like the normal Army PT Test it was something a little more. This is what it consisted of:
2 mile run
21 95# cleen and press
10 Body weight flat bench (200# for me)
2000 meter row (on a row machine)
21 reverse grip pullups
21 dips
Incline run 12% grade @ 8.0 mph (20 sec on and 10 sec rest for 4 minutes) this one was horrible
10 vertile handstand pushups
10 Body weight dead lifts (200# for me)
95# tire flip (end over end) for 35 meters

It was crazy. I finished at around the average time of 52 minutes 4 seconds. I have never sweet so much in my life. At one point my heart rate was at 172 bpm for over 5 minutes. This a none stop event and break times is counted in the total time. It was fun, I cannot wait to do it again.

Iraqi Food and Other Activities

Well the new year is here and life is the same. We have been busy with building projects among other things. We were invited to lunch with the Iraqi Army for New Years Day. It was OK. They just have a different taste for things. They stacked the food on us and I didn't have the gut to finish it all. The bread is the best part of the meal.


Here is the food that we received. It looks worse than it tastes. Nicole could never do this as picky as she is about food.

Tapp and I enjoying the food. Tapp was already sick when we sat down; so he was not enjoying anything except for the bread.

This is Chris and I, Chris is my interpretor. We work together a lot. Chris is not his real name. I started calling him Chris because I could say his real name when I first got here. So I started calling him this and it stuck. He hates the name but oh well.

The team that I work with found out that I knew how to weld so they got me a welder and have been having me weld a bunch of things that needed repair. It has been fun. We have also been doing a lot of carpentry work and electrical work around the FOB. It is a nice break from the others things that I have going on.

Well I hope that all reading this had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. All is going well here. Take care, Warren