Cows in the Mist

I’m returning to the lower 48 sometime on 6 April. I will be in Baltimore on the evening of 6 April and due to the flight schedules and the availability of the travel folks at Hurlburt who I have to go through in order to return to Utah I will be forced to spend Palm Sunday weekend in NW Florida (otherwise known as Lower Alabama). All things being equal I’d rather spend that weekend at home, but at least it beats spending it over here.

I should be on an early afternoon flight on Monday the 10th and not a day too soon. After all is said and done I will have been away from home for 99 days. To folks in the USMC and the Army that isn’t saying much, and for them I feel terribly. My baby Jacob has grown so big (and so much hair) in the past three months I barely recognize him. I got some recent pictures from a few days ago and from Sarah’s 2nd birthday party. She looked so happy and joyful, I wish I could have been there with her.

I look forward to two weeks of relaxation and re-aquaintence with my family and then 2 weeks back in my office before my next TDY. My family will be joining me on this one though. I have to go down to Las Vegas for just over a week and then we’ll be checking out the Grand Canyon before returning home. Elisabeth has never been there and of course neither have the kids. They will be heavily guarded and won’t be allowed near the edge.

After that we have a trip up north to visit my God-daughters (who I haven’t seen in far too long – and one I have never met). Then it is off to Alabama in June for a month of leadership training (my family will accompany me again and I think we’ll be leaving the dog with my mother-in-law on the way down). I won’t be back in Utah then until after July 4th.

Finally we pack up and head North by Northwest to the land of the endless sun and the endless moon, the Last Frontier. We will be there at some point in July or August (NLT 15 August), still working details on where we will be living and when we’ll be moving in. So if anyone feels like taking a hop up to Anchorage to visit we will be very happy to welcome you into our crowded home. But we probably won’t be travelling down to the lower 48 once we settle in up there (unless I can get a really good rate on a bunch of plane tickets). We certainly won’t have the time to make the 3 week minimum (1 week to visit – 2 weeks of driving) round trip by truck/van. It would be too stressful on the kids. Well, so long for now. I don’t know if I’ll be writing again from this side of the world. I will be writing again from Hurlburt though. You know, for a place I had never been to before until last June I have spent a considerable amount of time in Florida over the past 10 months – not a bad place to be really (that is if you are into white sand, warm beaches, warm Gulf Coast waters, palm trees, and relatively annual warm weather). Well, back to the grind. God Bless all of you.

This message contains religious references. If this is not something you (the reader) are ready to deal with please don’t read. My intent with this post is not to upset you, but to lay out some fairly simple facts.

Well it all comes down to whose side you are on. True. You are either working against God’s Will or working for God’s Will. Satan see’s himself as the good guy too. So I suppose those who align themselves that way would also consider themselves the good guys. The point is eventually everything comes down to a basic right or wrong scenario. Is this right or is this wrong? Who determines that? God does. Why does He get to, because He created everything, and it is His world, not ours. Those who disagree will have an eternity to figure out they shouldn’t have. So how do we know what God’s Will is? Prayer. Consistent and constant open minded prayer, supplication, and fasting are really the only way to come to understand the direction one should take in life. Many people say they have prayed about something and come to the conclusion that what they do is OK with God, but what if it is really contrary to God’s Will? These are things many people wonder. For those really serious about seeking out the truth, God did establish a Church here on earth (nearly 2000 years ago) that spells out very clearly what is right and wrong and how we should live our daily lives. Those who choose to have the faith to accept this and subjugate their will to that of a higher authority (higher than themselves and an intermediary between us individually and our Creator) are encouraged to do so. Those who don’t will continue to seek for the truth of things until they take their last breath. Good and Evil exist and right and wrong are a reality, not a game that we play. Anymore discussion on right vs. wrong is really a moot point. We all know what is wrong and what is right. We just need to display one ounce of courage to stand up for what is right once in a while instead of letting society dictate it to us.

No, I have not had the privilege of seeing the hospital in Balad. But what they are doing there should not be surprising. It is the Law. According to the Law of Armed Conflict (or LOAC) it is the duty of all US and Coalition personnel (whether they are surgeons or first aid trained sloth’s like me) to care for the wounded (regardless of national, racial, ethnic, or religious affiliation).

The problem with treating some of the terrorists who are injured in combat (and we have done so many times) is that sometimes they use our laws against us. There was recently a Marine on trial for the killing of an apparently injured terrorist. The issue was that just one day earlier when that same Marine and a buddy encountered the same situation (found an apparently injured guy in a building they were reconing) his buddy went to check the guy out to see if he was OK. He was just fine, until he blew himself and the young Marine to their individual judgment.

The marine on trial swore under oath that he saw the injured man trying to conceal something. It wasn’t a bomb, just a gun. The injured man was probably waiting to be rolled over so that he could kill the American who found him. I am not trying to take away from the good that the doctors are doing. I am thrilled that the injured people being treated didn’t turn out to be suicide attackers. I am just trying to point out that the article written by NPR was lacking in their complete coverage of the story. This activity has been going on since the Revolutionary War (probably longer than that). It was signed into law after WWII.

The reason you won’t find our terrorist enemies giving the same support to the Law of Armed Conflict as we and our allies do is because they never signed it, nor did the nations they came from (Syria, Iran, Iraq, etc…). This is also the reason that the Geneva Conventions do not apply in this action and it bugs the heck out of me whenever some reporter thinking they have a few facts right starts belching out how the US is in violation of the Geneva Conventions, or this group of soldiers or that group of soldiers violated the Geneva Conventions. In order to violate the Geneva Conventions they must apply to and be observed by both parties in any armed conflict.

The opponents must be wearing a recognizable uniform (we do, they don’t). The opponents must carry arms openly (we do, they don’t). The opponents must also be fighting on behalf of a particular nation (we do, they don’t). They may claim they do, but the Iraqi Government and Iraqi soldiers have taken the lead in the majority of recent actions against the collection of international terrorists. The terrorists are fighting for Allah, or so they say. I personally think they are fighting to hold on to what little power they had when they were allowed to exist as war lords of different tribes or ethnic/religious groups and used as thugs by the former dictator in their particular region of the country. Or they are individuals who do not want democratically stable nations (on either side of Iran – least of all surrounding Iran). But those are just a compilation of facts and opinions. The facts revolve around the LOAC and the GC. Those types of things I am forced to review and be tested on at a minimum of once every year.

I guess my brother has a point. Will I be in Iraq next week or Kuwait? Is Josiah being good to his other siblings or not? Is my wife keeping her sanity or not? Are we making enough progress against evil or not? Am I the bad guy or the good guy? These are the things I ponder. OK I don’t ponder whether I am the bad guy or not, I’m really not that intellectual. I just assume I am the good guy and the folks who make a living and lifestyle out of attempting to murder innocent people are the bad guys. But hey, I’m just a soldier. My apologies Marc, but I couldn’t resist. No offense to anyone intended if any is taken, please read with a lighter heart.

OK, so I was going to Iraq again, but now I am staying here (at least for another week or less). It’s really kind of aggravating. If I would have been sent when I was supposed to go up there I would have had a chance to earn an Iraqi Campaign Medal (ICM) to complement my Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. As it stands now I won’t be there long enough (in consecutive days) to earn it. There aren’t many Program Managers who have the ICM. I guess I am now (or still) one of them. Oh well, I’d rather be home anyway. Now I really want to get home as soon as possible, since there is no longer any intrinsic benefit to staying until 21 April (which would have been departing early anyway). Now I just have to wait another week or so before I make my third trip to Iraq in as many months. Once I get there I’ll probably just work on a couple projects and then be sent home. I will now be trying very diligently to leave earlier than later (not that I really have any say in it anyway). But if I complete the projects they have waiting for me early perhaps they’ll release me. There isn’t going to be anyone to replace me now so it won’t kill the mission to let me go as well. With certain changes and mission adjustments my position over here is going away. That’s all I can say about that right now.

I long for the warm baby hugs of my kids and the warm mommy hugs from my wife. I can’t understand how the Soldiers and Marines do it. I’ve been away from home for 80 days now and it seems like an eternity. The families of the brave men and women have all earned an even higher place of honor in my eyes than before (to be without the other half for 12-18 months takes serious commitment). I am very proud of the way my wife has been able to handle things on her end (with the help of her mother whom I am especially thankful for).

I found out I won’t be able to bring back a few of the things I discovered over here. I found some Kuwaiti (or Iraqi) AK-47 shell casings from the invasion in the summer of 1990 out in the desert (still on the base – don’t worry mom). Anyway, the new rules state that those things pertaining to firearms (like they were in any condition to be re-used) are not allowed to be taken home as souvenirs. They would just confiscate them at Customs.

We live in a strange world. In days long gone (when casualties were measured in tens or hundreds of thousands) soldiers could bring home relics found on the battle field without special permission from the host nation and the nation of destination. Now that there are far fewer casualties and the global population now seems to have an ingrown fear (even terror) of anything related to a firearm (as opposed to the fear of the ones using them) these relics will remain where they are to decompose in the sand. I had grander plans for them of course. I imagined they would be lovely relics I could use in the future to honor those who defend freedom (and their homeland – as the Kuwaitis attempted to do nearly 16 years ago). I had planned on polishing one side and having the word “Liberty” or “Freedom” engraved in that side. I would then have it sealed in some sort of transparent acrylic block (to better preserve it, mount it (myself) on a sanded, polished, and stained piece of wood, and get an engraver to engrave a customized message on a small piece of brass to be fitted to the wood. This item could then be used as a gift for many purposes, but somewhere on the acrylic (most likely on the bottom) I would have some facts about the shell casings origins engraved adding even more meaning to the gift itself. But, what the heck, it was just an idea. The world we live in now seems to frown on fresh ideas (unless those ideas conform to some form of political group-think ideals that have pushed the world to the state it is in today). But what do I know, I’m just a Captain and that’s just one man’s point of view. Free thinking individuals are squashed by a gigantic invisible force lacking any real tangible characteristics. Is it just me or has the world given up hope? Have people really stopped dreaming about positive things? Has the global population completely given up on itself? It seems that most people I talk to (not just here, but everywhere I have been) seem less alive, invigorated, impulsive, adventurous, and creative than they used to be. Has the world around me “grown up” and left me, the child, behind? Am I crazy? Some of you are probably saying, “You bet you’re crazy”. That’s OK with me. I always knew I was a bit of an oddball anyway.

On a different subject (sort of), the Personnel office informed me on the 20th (yesterday for you) that I needed to attend a briefing on the 21st or 22nd (today for me) regarding my re-assignment to Anchorage. I have decided to accept this assignment, but they have still failed to provide me with an electronic copy of the orders I requested after getting this summons. These are the same people who processed my orders for deployment. I had to tell them that I was still deployed (since I haven’t returned and in-processed again you would have thought they would realize I was still over here). I haven’t heard a word since my response, no orders, no, “Oh, I’m sorry we’ll try to work with your schedule a little better”, just silence. So there are still a couple houses I am interested in up in the Palmer, AK area. It is roughly 40 miles from Elmendorf (but the properties are much more affordable for the quality and size I am looking for – also the safety of the neighborhood). The nice thing about the two I am most interested in is the close proximity to the main highway (about half a mile) going directly on to Elmendorf and Fort Richardson.

Well that’s all that is on my mind that I can share at this time. Please continue to pray for my family at this critical time (it’s always a critical time at my house). I should be home in a month or less (I am really hoping now for a couple weeks). May God Bless you all and keep you safe and have a wonderful week.

Well, it looks like I’ll be going Back to Iraq again, rather than coming home right away. I may be going there just to come back here to leave the area for good, or I may be staying for a week or so. Either way I will no longer be calling Kuwait my home in a couple weeks.

I have been getting lots more sleep recently. We have been on shorter shifts due to mission requirements and it has paid off. I got my second Anthrax Vaccine today. No big deal, no reaction just like last time. In fact I am having less of a reaction this time (not even any muscle soreness). My small pox vaccine is steadily healing. It is going through its pussy stage right now. It still doesn’t itch too badly. I am able to control myself. When I was out in the “backyard” working on some stuff there were a couple of flies taking a real interest in my left shoulder (small pox shoulder). I had to keep reminding them with my hand that my shoulder was not a good place to lay their little maggots (not something I really want to picture).

I am 2/3 of the way done with my “backyard” project and my commander seems pretty pleased with my performance in this area. At least there are a couple things I can do to make myself useful. Once he got a good look at the project 1/3 of the way complete his comment was, “Look at you Russell, not bad at all.”

It is nice once in a while to feel somewhat needed. Other than that I don’t have much to report. The tempurature is rising, the bad guys are declining, the day for my return home is getting closer. I am glad I didn’t get a 6 month tour. I still can’t help but feel sorry for the Army and Marine Corps folks. They get the shaft when it comes to deployments (one or more years instead of 3 or more months). The Navy is better, but even their tours aren’t as short as many in the Air Force. Until next time, have great day/week. May God Bless all of you and keep you safe.

No, not what you were thinking. This 40+ hour shift stuff is becoming a really bad habit of mine. My mom was right, if it wasn’t for my family I would be a work-a-holic. It isn’t that I like working all that much, I just have so much pent up energy and so few ways to burn it here, I work as much as possible (which for me seems like more than normal). Random thought… I just love opening my back door (which is right next to my desk) and watching big planes roll by (~50 yards away).

We finished up early this morning and so I headed off to my room to change into my PT gear so I could work out. I spent a little time lifting a few weights. I didn’t want to over do it on Sunday since I am supposed to be resting, but few opportunities to actually stay in shape have been presenting themselves so I do it when I can. Then off to breakfast, then to church, then to pick-up some screws and sand paper at the self help store.

Fortunately I go to church with one of the Airmen who works there so they let me in even though they are officially closed on Sundays (I wish we were). But if we stopped working on Sundays the terrorists would take advantage of the situation and perform all their strategic movements on Sunday. As it is they are being hunted around the clock and so they just do what they can to keep their little rebellion against civilization alive.

Anyway, after I got back to my dorm from the self help store I realized I had to get up in less than 6 hours. We have a cleaning detail today instead of a staff meeting. So while I would normally come in later in the day on Sunday (since we don’t have staff meetings on Sunday) I had to plan to come in earlier for the cleaning detail. I also realized that I wasn’t the least bit tired yet. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for at least 2 hours I decided I’d just go back to work and continue to press on with stuff that is easier done when fewer people are around. It also helps break up the same old routine. I am going to have to learn how to go to sleep when I get back home though. Although I guess if I can’t sleep I’ll just start studying for my Master’s Degree. That should help put me out like a light very quickly.

I won’t be starting on my Master’s until I move again though. I am hoping my next job doesn’t have me travelling all over creation. Unfortunately the longer I spend awake the more time I spend missing my wife and children.

I got a small pox shot last week. The doctor says I am having a very mild reaction. I’m glad. I’m also glad I am having a reaction. I guess if I didn’t have any reaction they’d have to give me 15 shots instead of the normal 3 I already got. I don’t mind shots, but that seems a little ridiculous.

Well, I have written more than enough to fill your eager and bright minds with lots of questions, so I’m getting back to the task at hand. It isn’t really all that exciting, but it is something I have always enjoyed doing, but if I told you what it was, you’d wonder why I was doing it, and since the reason I’m doing it isn’t completely public knowledge (parts of it are thanks to the Wing Commander somewhere else), you’ll just have to guess. It is something I could do in my own garage and I have done it many times for many reasons before, and has very little to do with National Defense, but it is necessary in this instance…

Yes, walking around or driving around Balad is far safer than walking through South Chicago (any time of the day – dark or not). My mission there was accomplished and I got back to Kuwait at about 0200 Zulu today (actually yesterday here-just over 24 hours ago), or 6:00pm PST for the readers on the West Coast. Like I said in my last posting, right around dinner time for you. Yes, it was safe, and really fun. Well, being there wasn’t all that fun, but I did get escorted around by a pretty cool Airman (former Sailor who crossed into the other blue). The most fun thing that happened though was the trip there. Yeah, we got shot at by several Surface to Air Missiles, had to launch flares, and chaff, and perform multiple evasive maneuvers in a C-17, and now that I have your complete attention, that’s a bunch of bunk. What really happened was that I got to ride in the COCKPIT, the entire trip! I sat right behind the pilot. Not only is the C-17 one of the most versatile aircraft platforms in the DoD Inventory, it is also one of the most technologically advanced. The only more advanced cockpit I have seen is in the newly delivered F/A-22. This jet is decked out. The crew was a reserve crew from South Carolina (Charleston AFB) and were an absolute joy to hang out with during the flight. I wore the same headset that they wore and got to hear all the radio traffic from the ground and other aircraft in the area (plus ask questions and get answers and a complete tour of the area). The main reason they were so nice to me was the fact that I got to the plane early and helped them load it. I was also their only passenger. So they probably bent a few rules, but it didn’t risk the mission. I tried to contain myself. The windows are huge up there. Since it was the middle of the day I got a very good look at Iraq. I saw the entire Mesopotamic region south of Balad and it is much more fertile than I was led to believe. There was an amazing amount of green down there. I’m pretty sure I even saw the Garden of Eden. OK, that’s not true either. We were chasing another C-17 (from Charleston, SC) all the way up there. The pilot and co-pilot were discussing whether or not they should try to pass him. The co-pilot was convinced they could get ahead of him. At one point they even pulled out an obscure “Top Gun” Line. The co-pilot said (of the other C-17 – which we could see during most of the flight) “Hey, where’d he go?” to which the pilot responded “Where’d whoooo go?” They eventually decided it was best for them to let the lead plane land first. But the thing that amazed me was how stable and upright the plane felt even as we performed a steep bank to the right as we spiraled downward toward the runway. The landing was so smooth up in the cockpit that it felt like I was watching a simulator from the comfort of my living room chair. It was very sureal. I felt almost disconnected. The C-130 ride on the way home was no where near as comfortable, especially since it was toward the end of another one of those 40+ hour shifts for me. I did get a 3 hour nap this time though. Well, I need to start wrapping things up here. It has been very dry, hot, and dusty down here. On a totally unrelated subject I was able to get up early enough to clean and rearrange my dorm room. My roomates are all gone now and it is just me. I may be going back to Balad, or I may be coming home sooner than I ever thought. I’m hoping for the home option. I really miss my kids. I miss my wife too, but she is old enough to understand these things and I know the kids really miss me. Did I mention that Josiah is convinced I ride a horse and shoot bad guys? He even asked me (in all seriousness) if my horse was OK. He wanted to make sure the bad guys hadn’t killed it. What was I supposed to say. I just told him that, “no the bad guys have not hurt my horse.” They can’t since I don’t have one. I guess it’s immortal. I’ll never convince him that I am doing far less fun things than riding a horse wildly through the desert. Even at 4 he fantasizes about the poetry of war, seeing it for something more glorious than it really is (also more interesting than it really is these days). I wish I could tell you more, but I’ll leave that to those who leak info to the media. I hope to see you soon. Love, Michael

Well, I’m headed back to the real front line again tomorrow morning, but I’ll probably be back in Kuwait by the time you are all eating dinner tomorrow evening. I actually get to do something military like, no mom, I’m not storming into a terrorist facility to capture AMZ, it isn’t that cool, but it beats what I am doing now. I’d love to tell you more but that’s the limit of my conversation. I’ll talk to you all later. Love, Michael

So I went back to my room right after sunrise today, brushed my teeth, washed my face, got out of my uniform, went to bed, prayed for awhile, read for awhile, but couldn’t fall asleep. Then to make matters worse a back-ho and a bunch of shovel operators started digging a ditch right outside my window (it’s getting harder to keep the additional adjectives out at this point). So I got up and went to the chow hall for some breakfast. Then I went to the PX/BX (Post Exchange / Base Exchange – depending on which branch you’re in) and bought a wash cloth (I’ll need it for when I clean my bathroom). I had one, but it was in the bag that never showed up. Speaking of which they don’t have any of those nice green waterproof backpack/duffle bags in the Ali Al Salem BX. I hope they have one at the Balad BX. I’ll be going up there next week, then I’ll come back here, then I’ll go back there. Years from now I can tell people I’ve been to Iraq three times and Kuwait three times. That’ll sound more impressive taken out of current context. I’m becoming the country hopping MIM. I just can’t find a deployed location to stay in for very long. I wish they’d just send me to Afghanistan and get it over with. A buddy of mine is out there I could work with. It’d be better than doing the Kuwait to Iraq and back circuit. Well, I’ve gotta get going. I need to store up some more energy before (I must be tired I just spelled before “be for”) my official shift starts in another 4 hours. I won’t be getting any sleep though, I still have to have lunch, shave, take a shower, get back in my uniform and walk 3 miles (some before all that and some after all that). I’ll go to sleep after church tomorrow. That’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll actually get several hours of uninterrupted sleep. I sure wish this site had a spell checker. I can’t spell anyhting to save my life. See that? I just misspelled anythnig. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Told ya. I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried. See ya.