Hello everyone, im glad that I finally got this up and running. I know that everyone has been emailing me asking me what I have been doing and now I can finally update yall without sending out a hundred emails to do it.
So I made it to Iraq. I am stationed at FOB Warrior in Kirkuk Iraq. So far things are going well. My platoon is spending ALL of our time getting to know our new battle space for the remainder of the deployment. My platoon is responsible for a pretty large battle space. We have two sub-districts, which are like city councils, and about 70 or 80 villages. We are also paired with an Iraqi Army Battalion that is currently training up to stand on its on two feet. At this point in time we are responsible for training and patrolling with the Iraqi Army unit...which can be challenging at times. The language barrier does not pose as much of a problem as you might think. I have 3 interpreters assigned to my platoon, all which are very good at their job.
I have met so many interesting people here I do not know where to start. In my biggest Sub-district I have kinda a mafia thing going on. The mayor is the head of the clan, his name is John. Little back round on him, he was targeted by a VBIED (vehicle born improvised explosive device) about a year ago. He was in the hospital for several months but made it out with minimal burns on his face and the loose of his left arm. He is an interesting person though, he has 5 wives and 20 kids. (how about that Meghan, I'm not so crazy wanting 5). The most amazing thing about this country and its culture is the extent of their generosity. When we walk in the door, we our the guests in their house and anything that we want is offered to us. Its very nice but also imposes a sort of guilt after a few visits. You can tell the people who like you because they will offer you more things. We drink Chi Tea a lot. It is their favorite drink over here. Served hot in these mini glass cups with a small spoon and a ton of sugar at the bottom. Its said the faster you drink the team the more of a man you are (since its served so hot).
The head city council man for that sub district is Mr. Bob, who is John's brother. He is mainly the go getter in the town, more on the business side though. He works very hard for the furtherment of the community.
Then the most interesting character is COL LEE. He is like the head hit man for the mafia. He is in charge of the security of their whole sub-district but is known pretty well all throughout the area. He carries this little stick around, its more like a third of a broom stick and if any of his soldiers get out of line, he beats the mess out of them. The first time I saw it I wasn't sure what to do. One soldier made a joke about another's mother and that's all it took. It was pretty interesting. Col Lee is a SOIz contractor (Sons of Iraq), pretty much hired mercenaries or old terrorists that the US now pays for "security" but more or less we are paying them to not try and kill us. Its actually weird because it does work pretty well. Only the US is transferring over authority over the SOIz to the Iraqi Gov in like 2 months and there is no guarantee that they are going to pay them....so we will see what that brings. The Col has about 875 soldiers under his command and is pretty much my biggest work horse. Any time I need something, I give him a call and he gets right on it. Same goes for him, he calls my cell phone at odd hours needing very specific things and we don't really ask questions, it just gets done. He has become a pretty good friend though, he gave me this weird little gold necklace in the shape of Iraq and some earrings for Meghan. I have to get him something in return so if you have any idea's let me know.
In that sub-district we have to projects on-going right now. They are two tech-schools. One is a construction school and the other is an agricultural school. I check up on them every week and make sure they are getting paid, getting the right materials but most of all i cross reference all their invoices that they submit and we pay for with what they are actually using. The construction project is actually pretty good, for Iraqi construction anyways. The students enjoy working and they will get a little certificate stating they are certified to build or do repairs or something. Not a bad deal but the problem is not being qualified to do the jobs its actually having the industry to work.
Well that looks like enough for my first update...glad you stopped by to read. I miss everyone and cant wait to get home. When I get internet in my room I will try and post some pictures to go along with the info.
