Dispatches from the Front

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...