Dispatches from the Front

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