I am currently in C Co. 1-189th AVN, part of the 18th AVN Brig. Our battalion just went over 10k flight hours. Huge dude, simply huge. My company back in Arizona on an annual basis maybe does 1,500 flight hours, we just contributed over 3,000 in 6 months. Amazing and a testament to the hard work by everyone involved. What I find amazing is that ( Read more... )

One of the nice online correspondences I've had for awhile has been with the Jarrar family -- Raed, Khalid, and their mother Faiza, all of whom are active webloggers. Khalid's blog may not be as well known as that of his brother, or mother, but he was especially communicative with me through email, probably because he had more time to kill than ( Read more... )

What about today ( Read more... )

Sunday was a slow day, for the most part; or so it seemed. We headed over to our little range and did some shooting, obstensibly to zero our CCO's (close combat optics), but also to do some reflexive fire. Found out a lot about firing from the knee face on in full armor. And I also shot incredibly well on the zero target; not sure if it was ( Read more... )

Many of you know, if you've followed my journal over the last couple years, how much I disliked being in the Midwest. I felt trapped; resultingly, my complaints were not infrequent. And then the Army decided to send me to the Middle East. One could say to be careful what you wish for. That is not to say the Middle East is without its nice aspects. ( Read more... )

I am back on American soil. A simple flight from Kuwait City, Kuwait to Frankfurt, Germany, to Bangkor, Maine (US) to Fort Hood, Texas to Austin -- where I am currently hiding-out in the Admiral's Club at the airport until my flight. From here I go to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to Wichita, Kansas, to Fort Riley, Kansas and then to my normal duty ( Read more... )

That is the question I find myself asking, usually to myself but sometimes to the ridiculous people here in Iraq that pretend to be leaders. I mean the command staff here at Anaconda has reached new lows in stupidity. The last three instances absolutely slay me and are just the most recent examples of the genius we have seen in the last six ( Read more... )

I'll be headed home in approximately two weeks, after being in-theater for 18 months ( Read more... )

Let me congratulate those Marine Guys! There had been chatter about the possibility of this thing for a while, and it took alot of hard work to root it out and you have to congratulate these guys for a job well done!:

From the Guardian"American troops have found a vast network of bunkers beneath the Iraqi desert which insurgents used as a base, ( Read more... )

dust storms suck. holla if you hear me (as the kids are saying).