Monday, June 30, 2008

PIC

PIC= Provencial Iraqi COntrol. I have talked about this a little bit. Today was suppose to be the day. But i guess it wasn't meant to be. The weather was abd in Baghdad so the Priminister couldn't make it here and he wouldn't allow everything to be signed without him being here to participate. I guess somehow if he wasn't here it would give this govener (spelled wrong I know) more power than what he should. Don't ask me the specifics I just know that it wasn't going to happen.

We were all very much looking forward to this. There has been an enormous amount of time and planning that has gone into this. Our little camp has swelled by about 300 people just for this event.

My job for the day had me escorting a 2 star marine general around. He didn't make it because of the weather either.

So the whole event is a bust :( We will have to wait awhile since our turn has gone by. There is another providence that will be turned over very soon and we have to wait until that is done. We can't do these things at the same time because of all of the resources that have to be devoted to security. I just wouldn't be a good thing if we were handing things over and the event took a rocket or mortar round. The news coverage just wouldn't be favorable.

Since I have been here you can really notice the difference in the security situatioo. Amarah (probably spelled wrong to) was taken over with very little resistence. We were prepared for the worse. The difference is the populace. They are tired of all of the crap. They want the bad guys out of their country and they know we will take care of them. There is a element of trust not only in us but in thier own countrymen. They believe in themselves whhich turns the tables on the bad guys and all of thier propaganda.

I have been quiet for awhile busy with this and trying to provide support to my family back home. Micca's grandmother passed away this last week. It has been very difficult for all of us but mostly Micca has had to deal with the brunt of it. I give what support I can but it's just not the same as a reassuring hug or squeeze. I hope this is the worst thing that gets thrown at us because it was a toughone.

I would like to thank everyone for the help and support during this time. I owe a special thank you to my sister who was so kind as to take time off to take Ashtyn and Drake back and forth so Micca didn't have to worry about it. It's so comforting to know that thier are people back home willing to help me out when it's needed.

Thank You!!

Brent

Saturday, June 21, 2008

"Granny"

Granny….. She has left us now :( I had the privilege of knowing her for only a short time. But in that time I can see where my wife got a lot of her attributes. Knowing that she is hurting so badly right now hurts me so deeply because I can’t be there to comfort her. In some strange way it helps a little to write about it. I know how deeply this will impact not only my family but all of the families that are associated with the VanDykes. She was such a strong person fighting until the end. She had to let everyone say their goodbyes. Shortly after the last family member stepped in to say good bye she then left this world.

There just doesn’t seem much more to say. This is one of the many things that service members go through every day. We miss so much. But in some strange way I think we learn better than anyone how precious life is and how our time with our loved ones is so limited. We don’t take those simple things for granted. I will be better for being gone, and so will everyone else that is close to me, only because we will work hard to make up for lost time and then some.

But just because I will be a better person in the end doesn’t mean I would volunteer to do this. I’m very Proud to serve my country, this is an example of how my family serves with me.

Granny is such an awesome person. She will never be gone. Every time I look at my wife I will be reminded of granny. She has had such a profound effect on all of those around her that everyone that has been around her will take a piece of her with them. In the case of wife I think she has more than most. If you knew both of them you would know exactly what I am talking about.

Goodbye Granny………..

Thursday, June 19, 2008

A sad day

Well the last couple days have been pretty hard. Micca's Grandmother "Granny" as everyone calls her has been pretty ill. To top it all off she fell and broke her hip and now everything seems to be coming to an end.

I know everyone thinks how horrible it is that I am over here when things like this happen but it's not I you should feel sorry for, it those people that I leave behind that I am such an integral part of thier life. I hurt because I know it hurts that I am not there for them in time of great sadness or for celebrations.

I live with people who all have the same problems and we can lean on each other. When I am gone there is no one to replace me.

My wife is such an incredible person she always feels like she isn't doing enough. I worry about her because I think she does to much. She works third shift and often only gets a few hours of sleep because there is always t-ball practice or a dinner or reunion or b-day party or whatever. She worries about me not coming home but I often worry about not having her to come home to. Did I mention she is a Police Officer to be more specific a Deputy. It's not like her back up is down the block or even in the same city.

Everyone calls the soldiers heroes, I don't hardly feel deserving of the title. It's my family that are the real Heroes, they are the ones that are left behind to take care of whatever it is that I have left. Whatever support I may have given is now gone and not easily replaced. My life here is easy by comparison.
Drake, Ashtyn, Dade and Micca are my Heroes. My Dad and Mom and Sister rate right up with them too. They are all sacrificing so much while I am gone.
Today is by far the low point in my deployment, I feel so bad for being gone, not there to share and to support my family when they need it. I think this has got to be the one of the worst feelings.

Ok enough about me, as bad as I may feel I always try to look on the bright side and think well at least I am here to feel something. Morbid? It may be but being here and seeing and knowing first hand about war makes you different. Different how I don’t really know. You become numb to some feelings or maybe you just learn how to suppress your thoughts and feeling so you can function. It is so easy to think about the what if. There is always two sides to the what if. It’s a combat zone you live in some fear but it is mostly suppressed. The two sides of the what if start when you hear of someone being killed by an unlikely event. The bad guys shoot rockets every once in awhile. Sometimes they hit people. I know I’m rambling here some what but I think I have a point. If you think about that being you, you will go crazy the way around that is to think about how it was just an unlucky event and how the chances of that are so incredibly small that it won’t happen to me. The thing is, is that it does happen. So where was I going with all of that I don’t know I think I am talking about coping and how just being here can be stressful without you ever knowing it.

Well enough of the introspective thoughts.

“Granny” she started this whole entry today. She is one of the strongest willed, opinionated people I have ever known. Micca told me early on that Granny ruled the roost. It didn’t take me long to realize that she was right. She made no bones about speaking her mind lucky for me I make a good first impression. I’m sure I underwent some scrutiny but I passed the “granny test” She is the focal point of the family make no doubt about that.

Well this post has taken me all over the map hope you could follow it.

Later for now

As always I’m Brent!!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Another day in the city

Today was another day where I had to take the Colonel into the city. Today we went to the police headquarters in the city. It was a little drive about 10-15 minutes. It's always nice to get out but there is some stress involved you never let you guard down. TOdays meeting had the head of the Iraqi army the head of the Polish Army and the chief of Police for the city. The Iraqi army is right outside our camp. So we stop in the Iraqi army compound to pick up the Iraqi general. We don't really pick him so much as meet up with his convoy. So once our convoys are together we take off into the city. We get there without incident and the Colonel takes off inside. We wait outside in the sun for the next 2 1/2 hours. Now our Hummers have air conditioning but all that does is keep it from turning into an oven. The meeting goes well they have a lunch and lots of information is exchanged. We head back in and I go to work for the rest of the day. When I get there I found 15k worth of office supplies have been dropped off in my office. They get sorted but thats about it. I'm beat and done for the day.

Later

Brent

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Money Money Money

Hey everyone,

I know I know my time between posts seems to be getting longer and longer. I guess I have gotten settled into a routine and there doesn't seem much worth writing about. So why did I title this Money Money Money. Well the government has a program that we buy goods from local vendors to support our misson. We can buy everything from pens and paper to computers and many other things. So today I picked up 20k dollars in cash. This may seem odd but in a worn torn country like Iraq the american dollar is still king. By spending money in the iraqi economy it is one small way to help infuse money into thier economy. It's really scary how much cash we use over here. We are all use to credit transactions and bank transfers. It's kind of wierd to see a contractor paid to build a building in cash. It's not uncommon to see transfers of more than $200-$500k.

You can rest assured there are very tight controls on the money. It takes 2 people to complete any transaction and 3 to request the money. Give me a credit card any day it's much easier.

Well the temperature over here has seemed to hold at about a steady 110-115 everyday. Some of the hotter days have gotten into the 120s. We are told that 140's in the summer aren't uncommon. I'm not looking forward to that. I've asked some Iraqi's how they deal with the heat. They say they go find some shade and air conditioning lol.

PIC, I think I've talked about this before. It is Provencial Iraqi Control. That is when we give a providence over to the Iraqi's to manage. We still stay here but we don't intervene unless we are asked

Our Providence will soon obtain PIC, which is a big deal. People talk about how little progress we are making, I can honestly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now I'm not saying we will be ready to leave any time soon but I think things will start to look a lot more like they do in Germany.

I could go on and on and get on my soapbox but I will save that for some other day some other time.

On a completley different topic my step son just turned 6 which if you had asked him a day after his 5th birthday he would have told you he was almost 6 then. I'm sure he's telling everyone now he's almost 7. In just a short time Dade will have his Bday party My sister along with her boys and lots of the family will be there as well. Oh I forgot to tell you that they are having the Bday party at a go cart track. It's days like today where I really want to be home. I want to be home every day but it's days like today that I want to be home even more.

Well I hope everyone has fun today and the weather holds out. Micca is going to try and skype me in for some of it we will see how that goes.

Later for now

Brent

Sunday, June 8, 2008

It's been a few days(have I used that title before)

So not a lot has happened in the past few days but remarkably the week flew by. Te most interesting thing I had to deal with was an Iraqi Police chief who wanted to know the status of some weapons that were turned over to the Americans between 2 and 4 years ago. The conversation was very interesting to say the least. My interpreter has a very thick accent and as interpreters go isn’t the best of the lot. So the Police chief wants me to tell him that we received the weapons which I am not going to do since odn’t have any thing saying we do. In all likely hood those weapons were turned over to the American forces but the likelihood of finding the paperwork is close to zero especially after 4 years in the case of the one. He went on to try and make me feel bad and say that one of his officers would be punished if I didn’t provide documentation. Those of you that know me may or may not know that as soon as someone try to threaten me or leverage something against me, well you might as forget about me bending whatever rules I may be bound by. There are grey areas that we all learn to work in but as soon as someone force me there or tries to, things suddenly become black and white.

Not much else is going on. Iraq is pretty quiet for the most part. You have your spots of violence and what not but then again so does the US, ours just isn’t to the same degree.

I had to confiscate a polaris from a group of people that work for me. I guess they were going 42km in a 15km zone and the polish MPs stopped them and gave them a ticket. Not a real ticket but one that lets you know you were wrong. A copy of these tickets goes to my boss who wasn’t to happy. In all honesty I don’t feel bad at all for taking the Polaris from them. They had been warned a couple of times and now they have to pay the price and walk.

The last couple days have been pretty dusty so it has only gotten up to about 99 degrees or so. I was asked to give an update on the plants. Well I haven’t attempted to grow the corn as of yet. The daisies that Dade sent me sprouted just fine but the heat nailed them. I am now attempting marigolds. I am trying to keep them inside and then let them catch the morning sun and take them inside for the afternoon. We will see how that works out. The 3 plants that mom and dad sent me initially are all dead except for the one. It lives inside with me and I try to open my window to give it some sun but I’m afraid I will kill it to if I put it outside. These plants don’t die from lack of water they die from the heat. We kept them pretty well watered but the heat just kicks their butts.

On another note the 11 of us are anxiously awaiting information about our mission in Afghanistan. We know we will be working with the Polish again that is why we are moving. They are leaving here and moving all of their troops to Afghanistan. We will be going to camp that isn’t as well developed as what it is here and we will be at about 7000 ft above sea level. It looks like my deployment will be full of sand and snow. Don’t know who I made mad enough to make me spend my summer in Iraq and my Winter in Afghanistan. My thermometer will make the trip with me that’s for sure.

I will keep every one as up to date as possible on my move but as usual I probably won’t be to detailed.

Later,

Brent

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Nothing much

Well not much has been going on. It's been hot as you can see by my thermometer. THat has been one of the best things sent to me. It has a button that you can see the maxium and the minumum for the day. I'm always catching people checking it. I don't mind thats why I put it out there.

Today I might have ruffled some feathers but we have had this on going issue with control of some armored suburbans we have. KBR which I am sure most of you have heard of is a huge contractor for the military and this camp is no different than most we have a large contractor presence over here. They have been giving me a problem saying that they own these vehicles which they sort of do but we get to tell them how they are being used. Well I tried to work things at the lowest level but lets just say some people are being less than user friendly. Soooo I went to to see the head of KBR at camp echo. My problem was no longer a problem after talking with no kidding his name is Rambo. I went back to the shop where they give out the vehicles to make sure they had gotten the word and guess what problem solved. Feathers were ruffled but oh well they had thier chance to resolve the issue at thier level.

THe funny thing about KBR is they sometimes forget who they are working for. The Army has them here to serve us. Sometimes they forget that and we have to remind them of that. To say that there is some comtempt for them might be a slight understatement. Any time you ask them to do something it seems like you have to renegotiate thier contract. It's like having a union in a warzone. Don't get me wrong the vast majority will bend over backwards but it is the mid level managers that I wanna shoot sometimes.... we do carry guns here too, of course I am just kidding but the thought has crossed my mins a couple of times.

They have this area that is the KBR compound which they control access to with an unarmed iraqi dude who is there to keep other Iraqis out. Well they like to stop the soldiers going in too. Well now that I know what they are there for I'm kind of an asshole. I know where I am going and who I am seeing. So I just walk by and ignore the liitle guy or guys that are trying to stop me. They sometimes follw me in but it's kind of comical and has become a game of sorts for me. One day I might find one that is froggy but Ive yet to see one over 5'4" and 140lbs. I'm at leat 6'2" and 190. I don't think any one of those guys is going to try and stop me lol.

Well thats I have for now.... sorry I'm so boring these days

Brent

Sunday, June 1, 2008

false alarm

So yesterday and today have been pretty quiet. Same old stuff just different days. It is routinley hitting 115. It's amazing how many people stop to look at my temp gauge.

Yesterday I was typing away. It was about 1800 and I know this.... well because well you will see. I had finished up my reports for the day and was checking the internet for whatever it isn't important here, when I hear the CRAM (Counter Rocket and Mortar) alarm go off. Now we haven't heard it very many times since we have been here so needless to say in about 3 seonds flat I'm in the Bunker. I am very close to the bunker there is only one trailer between the Bunker and I. You would be surprised at how much jumps through your head in 3 seconds.

What is that?
That's the CRAM Siren
Are you sure?
It's in the middle of the day they don't usually shoot at us in the middle of the day
OH S*&% I better go to the bunker
No one else is running to the bunker
Umm was that the CRAM siren?
Yes of course it was the Cram Siren

Now I'm inn the Bunker

Hmmm odd no onelse is here
Did they change the siren and not tell me?
Damn i bet I lost a lot of cool points
I wonder if I can get out of here without anyone seeing me
Damn Polish dude.... he doesnt count ..... made it

So I say to one of the guys as nonchalanty as I can so what was the siren for today... leaving it as ambigous as possible. He calmy replies you ran to the bunker didn't you.

It's at theis point I could A. say no or B. Fess up. I took option B and busted myself out. He admitted he started to run but didn't see anyone else moving for the bunkers so he played it off too.

Come to find out they had published an announcement on one of our 3 computer systems, just so happens it is the one I check the least lol.

Hope you got a decent laugh I did!!

Brent