Sunday, October 17, 2004
Dates
September 8th: Six months down, six months to go. Someone posted a note: “Happy mid deployment day. You are now officially a short timer.”
September 11th: The company held a short memorial service and someone wrote on the message board “September 11th - We will never forget.”
September 12th: Several attacks in and around the International Zone. Another guy and I had the first shift guarding an internal opening in the wall that morning. I looked at him with a grin and said, “We are going to get smoked.”
September 22: The Autumnal Equinox. It’s been getting cooler at night, but it was 112 F the other day. September 22: The Autumnal Equinox. It’s been getting cooler at night, but it was 112 F the other day. GQ said that this was not normal, but eventually, it will get cool and cloudy.
October 1st: Daylight savings time ended. This seems to make the evenings even longer. It’s also a hassle because after dark, we need to take along a “battle buddy” whenever we go somewhere, including the DFAC and the internet.
October 8th: Seven down, five to go.
October 14th: Two bombs explode here, in the International (I) Zone. These are the first bombs go off in the I Zone, though we receive regular rocket and mortar attacks as well as car bombs going off at the checkpoints.
October 15th: Ramadan begins. Our Chaplain did a briefing on this. You could tell he was the real deal, using terms like "faith groups"
October 16th: We went to the PX and found out that it, along with the MWR, is closed until further notice. The PX and MWR, as well as the café and bazaar which were bombed are not on a FOB or other controlled area. I guess they will put up a fence and limit access.
We received the First Cavalry Division patch.
Their chaplain – not their commander or command sergeant major (CSM) presented it to us; this was no accident. We made bets on who would be the first to wear theirs. The front runner dropped his uniform off first, but another guy sewed his on himself. So far, only those two have worn theirs. The 1st Cavalry Division isn’t the same as the Airmobile, “We Were Soldiers”, Viet Nam days; now they are like another Armored Division. Most of us want to wear the 1st Marine Division patch and though we have permission from the Marines to wear it, we still need permission from the Army. A few weeks later we are told that no one should have a combat patch on until we return to the US and if we had to pay to get it removed and have the American Flag (which it displaces) resewn, we should take the cost out of our incidental allowance. Advising us to spend our $3.50 per diem incidental expense allowance to fix the problem is another way of saying somebody screwed up, but there’s not going to be accountability for it.
September 8th: Six months down, six months to go. Someone posted a note: “Happy mid deployment day. You are now officially a short timer.”
September 11th: The company held a short memorial service and someone wrote on the message board “September 11th - We will never forget.”
September 12th: Several attacks in and around the International Zone. Another guy and I had the first shift guarding an internal opening in the wall that morning. I looked at him with a grin and said, “We are going to get smoked.”
September 22: The Autumnal Equinox. It’s been getting cooler at night, but it was 112 F the other day. September 22: The Autumnal Equinox. It’s been getting cooler at night, but it was 112 F the other day. GQ said that this was not normal, but eventually, it will get cool and cloudy.
October 1st: Daylight savings time ended. This seems to make the evenings even longer. It’s also a hassle because after dark, we need to take along a “battle buddy” whenever we go somewhere, including the DFAC and the internet.
October 8th: Seven down, five to go.
October 14th: Two bombs explode here, in the International (I) Zone. These are the first bombs go off in the I Zone, though we receive regular rocket and mortar attacks as well as car bombs going off at the checkpoints.
October 15th: Ramadan begins. Our Chaplain did a briefing on this. You could tell he was the real deal, using terms like "faith groups"
October 16th: We went to the PX and found out that it, along with the MWR, is closed until further notice. The PX and MWR, as well as the café and bazaar which were bombed are not on a FOB or other controlled area. I guess they will put up a fence and limit access.
We received the First Cavalry Division patch.
Their chaplain – not their commander or command sergeant major (CSM) presented it to us; this was no accident. We made bets on who would be the first to wear theirs. The front runner dropped his uniform off first, but another guy sewed his on himself. So far, only those two have worn theirs. The 1st Cavalry Division isn’t the same as the Airmobile, “We Were Soldiers”, Viet Nam days; now they are like another Armored Division. Most of us want to wear the 1st Marine Division patch and though we have permission from the Marines to wear it, we still need permission from the Army. A few weeks later we are told that no one should have a combat patch on until we return to the US and if we had to pay to get it removed and have the American Flag (which it displaces) resewn, we should take the cost out of our incidental allowance. Advising us to spend our $3.50 per diem incidental expense allowance to fix the problem is another way of saying somebody screwed up, but there’s not going to be accountability for it.
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