Dispatches from the Front

...For yet another post from Paul! I hope all of you back home enjoyed your Christmas holiday; I certainly enjoyed mine.

Last week, I climbed up in the tower on Camp Blackhawk to get a birds' eye view of Baghdad. I wasn't disappointed!

I'm a bit dark, but at least you can see that I was up high!

Undocumented civilians in the International Zone? Where?

The Presidential Palace, with the Doura Oil Refinery smoking in the distance

The roof of Believers' Palace (overtop Saddam's secret bunker complex), damaged by bombs during the invasion in 2003

The Monument to the Unknown Soldier, with an unfinished mosque in the background

I truly enjoyed Christmas here in Iraq - the servicemembers were certainly lavish with their decorations!

I chatted with a variety of people, many of them strangers. I met a rather strange fellow who insisted on carolling the entire day. I have to admit, his voice did irritate me after the second repetition.

Dear Friends, this is my last post in country, as I will be leaving Baghdad in one week. I look forward to seeing you again soon, and I will especially enjoy a respite from my adventures until the next one comes along!

Sincerely yours,
Paul

Well, December has been quite exciting for me thus far. It all began with a trip to Camp Victory here in Baghdad for some internal management training. I focused intensely on the course and was pleased with all I learned.

The model student

The class was taught by Peggy Johnson, who works for the Secretary of Defense. A bright, cheery woman, she kept the class entertained with catch slogans and a myriad of group exercises.

With Peggy

The food was wonderful at Camp Victory as well. The large dining facility offered a variety of choices that we don't get here at Phoenix Base, and we were offered a steady stream of snacks throughout the day.

I do enjoy Pop-Tarts from time to time

What I enjoyed most was the scenery. Our living conditions were more than comfortable, as we were staying in a an honest-to-goodness palace. I spent much of my free time enjoying the plush couches that once belonged to Uday and Qusay Hussein.

The foyer area was decorated for Christmas, and I enjoyed the lovely tree and the inflatable Sergeant Santa!

With one of my US Navy colleagues

During an extended dinner break, I was able to visit Al Faw palace, right down the lake from where we were staying.

Enjoying the scenery

I went with a few of my teammates and we marvelled at the ornate entryway.

Marissa posted quite a few pictures of the interior, so I won't bore you with duplicates. However, I did get to sit upon one of Saddam's thrones.

Don't I look regal with my sailor servants?

Roughly translated, the plaque says "He who sits in this chair rules all of Mesopotamia"

I also got a picture with Marissa on the large spiral staircase.

We spent our last evening at Camp Victory enjoying the lake. I took a much needed bath...

This beautiful marble sink is a remnant of a destroyed bathroom facility

...and visited with a few of the local residents.

Upon my return to the International Zone, I was invited to participate in a Hannukah service with our new Australian officer, Major Leonard. After assuring my colleagues that I was indeed kosher, I even participated in the lighting of the menorah!

I love experiencing the traditions of others!

All in all, the first half of this month has been wonderful, and I am anxiously awaiting Christmas and my impending redeployment, now less than four weeks away!

Until next time,
Paul

Hello, friends!

I just returned from a thrilling trip to Mosul, located in northern Iraq. I accompanied SFC Leigh and CPT Mackie with the purpose of closing a contracted warehouse, thus saving the government money. What a wonderful reason to travel!

With the warehouse employees

My companions were truly a blessing. SFC Leigh, hailing from Long Beach, California, works with CPT Mitchell in basing and life support. It was his responsibility to ensure that the transfer of property was complete and that all paperwork was signed. Incidentally, SFC Leigh also carried me occasionally when I had difficulty keeping up Short legs are certainly a disadvantage when working with the military!

With SFC Leigh

CPT Mackie, from Newport News, Virginia, is an Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) member who has served with CPT Mitchell since their mobilization in January. He was stationed in Mosul earlier in the war and was anxious to see if much had changed.

Enjoying some shade..

As it turned out, very little had. I was grateful to have someone familiar with the area in my team; many of these bases have unusual layouts.

A cleared ammunition bunker

In addition to some rousing games of ping pong, CPT Mackie showed us a few local landmarks.

This monastery is centuries old

The tombstone of an Iraqi Air Force officer, killed in action just after the Ba'ath Party took power

I assisted my friends with the final paperwork, resulting in the closure of a multi-million dollar contract.

"Don't forget the scanned copy!"

I enjoyed my trip immensely, but am happy to be back in the IZ where I belong, at least for now. As usual, thanks for reading and I'll see you all very soon!

Until next time,
Paul

Hello friends,

I'm pleased to report that I have fewer than 50 days left in Iraq; while I've enjoyed my time here, I'm truly looking forward to returning to Evansville after the first of the year!

I was able to make a trip to Old Muthana recently. Once the primary airfield in Baghdad, it is now an Iraqi Army base. The purpose of the visit was to negotiate on two construction projects slated to occupy the same piece of property. While Iraqis and Coalition partners hammered out the details, I enjoyed the scenery.

Saddam's unfinished mosque

I find the mosque to be lovely and forlorn, having remained untouched since the invasion in 2003. The rebar protruding from the top is striking to me - the ugliness of a cruel regime that would otherwise be hidden by the completed construction, had Saddam remained in power. I'm not sure why that analogy occurs to me.

I thorougly enjoyed the travels through Baghdad as well, and the time spent observing the building of a nation.

With CPT Mitchell

As always, I remain your faithful servant -
Paul

Redeployment is the word that most troops here repeat over and over to themselves. "Just let me make it to redeployment!"

A few weeks ago, the J4 section farewelled our leader, COL Arcocha. He had been here for sixteen months and finally, his replacement arrived.

Celebrating COL Arcocha's return to the US...

The section certainly misses him. He was honest, fair, and knew the logistics here better than anyone. Most importantly, he championed his staff, and consistently defended their projects and results. I have not met a better officer in all of my life.

Enjoying one last smoke with the cigar club

And even I have a redeployment date, scheduled in early January. I am certainly looking forward to my return to St. Paul's! As always, thank you for your support, and I'll see you in just over two months!

Yours,
Paul

The phrase says it all.

I got to spend a few days out of the office with these guys and they're tremendous. The Rough Riders' sole responsibility is to safely escort MNSTC-I personnel on the road from the IZ to other places in Iraq. And they have a perfect record, for which this organization is extremely grateful.

It's a challenging job, and not one for the faint of heart. It's high risk and requires exceptional discipline and highly coordinated teamwork. And these guys love what they do.

Attention to detail is critical, because what you don't see can be deadly. You have to rule the road and be aggressive enough to take and own every stretch of it. And you must be ready to engage the enemy at any time in any place.

George Orwell once said, "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." I sleep well because I know that when my friends and I have to travel, we will have the best protection that the military has to offer.

Happiness is definitely a belt-fed weapon.

Please continue to pray for all of our servicemembers over here, but especially for these men.

Until next time,
Paul

Hello friends,

I had the opportunity to visit the country of Qatar a few weeks ago for a vacation, and what an amazing country it is! The capital city of Doha is as modern as any city in the United States and the downtown literally looks as if it is being constructed in front of your eyes; I have never seen so many cranes! Naturally, I took some pictures to share with all of you.

"The Giant Oyster" at the edge of the Persian Gulf in downtown Doha

My favorite part of the trip was not having to be anywhere at a certain time, but I did get the opportunity to take a cultural tour of Doha. We visited an area called the Old Souqs, which is a large group of shops in a very old part of town. I visited a Falconry for the first time. The birds were beautiful, and I didn't realize that the sport still existed.

Admiring a display at the Falconry

The shopping in area malls was uneventful, as most of the stores were European and I couldn't find anything that I could wear over here! The portion of the tour that I most enjoyed was the trip to a traditional vegetable market. The rich colors were beautiful, and I was mesmerized by the earthy aromas, heightened by the fact that I haven't seen a truly fresh piece of produce in a few months!

Enjoying vegetables with my friend Robert

I returned to work refreshed, and was also pleased to discover that I have been given a redeployment date sometime in January, so I am now looking forward to the swift passing of autumn and winter.

As usual, thank you for your support and affection. I look forward to seeing you all in January!

Yours,
Paul

Hello friends,

Recently I visited Taji, Iraq with a team from the J4. I won't bore you with details of our work there, but I must tell you about the heaps of scrap metal everywhere! There are miles of tanks, boats, artillery, and other military vehicles and pieces that are waiting to be scrapped, totalling millions of dollars in scrap metal alone. The challenge is that while one Iraqi ministry owns the vehicles themselves, another owns the land, so neither can agree on who should receive the money from the scrapping. There are also no facilities here that can handle that amount of work, so the vehicles continue to sit, and are now covered in graffiti.

I had to ensure there were no obscenities behind me when I had this picture taken!

There is also a huge plot of land known as the "ammo boneyard" where demilitarized rounds are waiting to be cut in half so that they can't be used by terrorists as casings for explosive devices.

It was a very interesting trip. Good friends, rusty metal, and a week outside of the office makes for a very good time!

Until next time,
Paul

I recently was afforded the honor of participating in a reenlistment ceremony. This type of ceremony occurs when one of the Army's enlisted personnel decides to add further years to his or her obligation. Amazingly enough, the Army sees more reenlistments in combat zones than it does in any other location. I feel that this is due to the excitement of going beyond training in the US and actually performing a vital mission where it is most desperately needed.

This picture was taken right after the formal reenlistment, which consisted of CPT Mitchell (right) giving the oath of enlistment to Sergeant (SGT) Samantha Taber (left). SGT Taber works for CPT Mitchell in the Basing and Life Support section of the MNSTC-I J4. SGT Taber could have asked any officer to give her the oath, and CPT Mitchell was honored to be asked, and took the responsibility seriously. SGT Taber chose "the giant Saddam head" as her location; this head is one of three that adorned palaces all over the International Zone, and were removed by the Coalition at the request of the Iraqi government.

After the oath, a significant amount of revelry took place, and I took part in the festivities.

I am constantly amazed by the quality of the people that I meet here on a daily basis. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and I look forward to more exciting opportunities here in the future!

Yours,
Paul

I apologize for the long delay between my posts, but I've been incredibly busy. I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to truly embrace and absorb Iraqi culture, and I had a wonderful experience with our head interpreter, Haitham.

Haitham is one of Iraq's true heroes. He is a 23-year old Christian, born in northern Iraq, whose family lives in Baghdad. He has worked for us for over two years, and risks his life every day simply to come to work and support the Coalition. He varies his route, taking multiple buses, taxis, and walking to different places so that it is more difficult for anybody to follow him. He has been forced to leave his home for weeks at a time when a nosy neighbor has indicated to him that his cover is blown.

I spent an entire afternoon with Haitham, learning Arabic. He was a very patient tutor, as some of the sounds I was making certainly would not have impressed the local population! I learned a great deal from him about the lives of Iraqi citizens and the challenges and dangers that they face daily. Yesterday, Haitham left for another country to finish processing his visa. Within months, he will be residing on the east coast of the U.S. I shall miss him greatly and am hopeful that I will see him again on friendlier soil.

Until next time, dear friends...