Words on Iraq

WHAT I DID

I worked supply at a break point. What we did was this, trucks come in from the north and from the south of Iraq, we were kind of a transfer point. When supplies were going north, we took the airforce pallets off the trucks, break them down if need be, and put em in the appropriate lanes for people to come and pick them up - of course we did all of the loading and unloading of the trucks with the ten thousand pound forklifts. Unfortuanately most of our equipment was failing then and in the shop because the soldiers who were there before us didn't take as good care of them as they should've. We also dealt with these metal shipping boxes the size of a house called conexes, and we load and unload those too. We supplied all of northern Iraq, whenever stuff came from the north to us, it went back to where it came from because either the unit didn't need it, or it was incorrectly addressed. That's our job in a nutshell though.

Here's a few snapshots of some of the fine people that I worked with every day - day after day - each day and day in and day out. (Day after day after day after ......day)

My Platoon: Tech Supply

Platoon Sgt: SSG Crane

My squad leader: SGT Benoit

My shift leader and my roomate: SSG Halfhide and SPC Cima

1st shift leader: SGT Naylor

Myself in the office looking evil

My roommate and I, and SPC Morrison

A 21st birthday cake for me in Iraq

--DETAILS---

Well, this is a abbreviated list of the different missions everyone had to do once in awhile. I've been on them all a few times, some are better than others, but here goes...

As fun as it sounds, but at least it gets me away from the worksite for a week. That place is maddening with all of the work that comes in and out of that place. Gaurd duty is real simple, just go to the building where the SOG (Sergeant of the Guard) is, and report, then they take you out to the OP (Observation Point). Then you sit there and watch over the triple barbed-wire fence for any idiot who might be stupid enough to jump or climb the fences. Besides that, you just have to deal with the spiders, ants, birds, flies and scorpions. Sgt. Gonzolez and I had to crush a scorpion yesterday on our way up the little hill the OP is on. Yeah, and the LMTV (It's a truck) is a real pain to climb up with the body armor and rifle. My shift is the sweet one though, it starts at 6 PM and goes till 9 PM (not the hottest part of the day) then I get three hours off and start again from midnight till three in the AM. At least I'm not in the sun all day like last time. In short though, nothing much happens out in front of the OP's. Just Iraqis herding sheep (We DONT call that in to the SOG, they live out there) So, that's a little about gaurd duty anyways. The only other thing to watch out for is the wild cats, dogs and foxes. (Great wildlife, huh?) NOTE: the animals I just listed are swimming with bacterium, and if you get bit on the finger - you probably will lose it.

Oh, here's another winner detail! This one you get to ride in the Iraqi's dump trucks with them and gaurd them all day long while they transport gravel to sites and dump it. It's hard as hell to communicate with them and get them to work when none of them speak english. Most of the people who work for us are just honest, hard working Iraqi people trying to make a living. We pay them a whopping $70 a month for their work (which is filthy stinking money on their economy). They all pretty much have the same view of Americans, and their view is that all Americans are rich. They will bring trinkets on base and try to sell you shit. Their cigarettes are counterfeit - the Marlboro's they sell taste like desert grasses. They'll try to sell you some of their money too, but their money isn't worth beans, so don't do it. 1000 dinar isn't even worth $3, so don't swap a ten for it!! Other than that, on Gravel detail you get a chance to eat with the LN's if you want (Local Nationals), they bring food from their homes and share it with eachother. They really love sitting down to eat and sharing everything, and they really insist that you partake of their meals. I had this chicken and what seemed like pizza sauce that a man named Abbas brought in, the pizza sauce was really really good - I told him to bring it again, but he didn't. Maybe he didn't understand me. Then, when I was gaurding Mohammud (yup, that was his name) he made me this huge fucking lamb grinder! I asked him after I ate it if he grew and butchered the sheep - I didn't have to ask really though, because I knew that he did. I was honored when he invited me to come to his home and meet his wife and children, but of course I had to decline. Even if the army would let me go out to his house, I wouldn't dare - somebody who didn't like me would see my ass from a million miles away, and by myself I wouldn't have a chance.

Quite possibly the best detail you could be on. Our work site operates 24 hours a day, regaurdless of what the rest of the company tells you. The night rto / 10k operator mans the radio in case of a rocket attack and gets accountability, and if there are late trucks in he unloads em. Mostly though, there isn't anything that goes on, so you can just take a nap or watch movies, and then you have all day off. The shift is 8:30 to 8:30 overnight. It's OK in my book!

Well, this one's simple. You just watch locals that work for us while they work, and make sure they don't take off or try anything stupid. The good part is you don't have to do anything, the bad part is baking in the sun all day and not doing anything!

Our site takes care of all of the mail that comes in by airplane to go to FOB Speicher and north of us. We use the 10K forklifts to unload the planes, I have a picture of Bill our KBR guy doing this on this page. If you screw up you could punch a hole in the fusilodge of the plane, so be x-tra careful!!!