Dave's flight was delayed and he is expected to return to Fort Stewart, Georgia on December 24 or 25. Below is a link to a story on the welcome home that the Third Infantry soldiers received on Tuesday, December 20.
As of December 12
Hello all.
Ah, the holidays are here and I'm almost out of here. 7 more days. But
before I leave I need to be a Quick Reaction Force for our IA(Iraqi Amry ) soldiers.
They
will be guarding the polls and I will be sleeping in a dangerous place. I
love my job, even more so that I'm leaving soon to join my wife for
Christmas. Although it will not be a truly good Christmas because my other
family will still be here in Iraq and working both Christmas Eve and Christmas.
They
will be escorting the new unit to our palace.
I was thinking about things I could tell the students at Lakeland,
about
things we do over here, unfortunately things I will think are funny
will not
be to anyone other then people that have been in my position. Things
are
starting to crap out on us. Like my roommate's dvd player is dying,
my
charger for my computer fried, and our trucks are having problems,
but they
are fixed very quickly.
The thought of coming back as a Military Police SGT next time is funny
to
us, because its not a combat job. Although they do get into some trouble
as seen by the number of MP's that have died in this war. But
the knowledge and
training I have from this deployment and the next just make it easier
to do
my job. But not easier to leave my wife and family. We have all made
sacrifices and I would do it again with out a second thought. As I
leave
Iraq,
to return to the states I understand that I have become a veteran of
a war
that loses support, and I join the ranks of people from past wars
and just
have to laugh at people who ask me why I do what I do. The only answer
I can
think of is "Because you don't."
Everyone that has supported me and my fellow soldiers past, present and future, I thank you very much for everything. All the prayers and care packages mean so much to us, thank you again.
Until I return
SCOUTS OUT
Dave
Well
I have 18 more days left in country. I will make it back to my wife
and be
state side for christmas. Things here are not too bad. We are doing
a lot of redeployment related
thing, such as packing our rooms, all our gear and conexs. But also we are
still working with the Iraqi Army. The Iraq elections are coming up
in a week, so we will be in harms way once again. We will have another
mission which is not set yet but is also very dangerous. In
saying this I know all of you will email me back and tell me to
keep my head in the game, and trust me I, as
well as my fellow soldiers, know that if we don't have our heads in
the game
some one dies. All the guys here will perform excellently under any
conditions we encounter between now and when we set foot onto that
bird for the states. My computer has died on me
so it will take me a while to reply to
emails. If I don't answer right away don't worry, its in someone
else's
room charging. That's the only bad news for now.
Good news I will
be in NY
after the 5th of February, until an undetermined time. I have
21 days of
leave so I don't know how much will be spent in NY just yet.
Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good and the following holidays
are
just as good to ya'll. Until next time.
Later
Dave
SCOUTS OUT
Hello All.
Well some really cool missions for us this week. Sniper and Scouts did a
sniper mission on a dangerous road but the mission was not a success.
Then last night my IA (Iraqi Army)
company and
my MiTT team did a raid on a mosque. Because it was a Mosque it went really
high up to get approved and this raid was the only 1 of 4 to get approved.
The
Iraqi Army company I trained has been prepping all week for it and they were
told last minute that it was a mosque. We thought they wouldn't do
it but
they didn't care. We told them bad guys were in there. They found nothing
except a few guards and some women and children. The only causality was
my friend SPC Santos. He got a grazing
gun shot wound from an IA training to breach the door. He's on mission right
now.
Thanksgiving is this week and I only have 28 days left of this country.
I'm still waiting for my orders after school assigning me to a new duty
station so I can't say if I'm coming back or not. So everyone have a very
good thanksgiving. I know I will. The battalion officers are serving food.
Thank you everyone.
Later
Dave
SCOUTS OUT
As of November 10
Hello every one,
Friday is Veteran's day, a day to remember what these fine men and
women have done for us and those who will live in our country. For me
it used
to be just a day off from school, and then it was a day off from work.
Now I
see it as a day for me to see what I have done and what other service
members have done. Not all of us have important jobs. Some have some
jobs
that don't mean anything to some and a lot to others. When we were living
at
FOB Independence, I had to rely on our cooks and mechanics, without
these
guys I would go hungry and be in danger. Here on Prosperity, we rely
on them
too but not as much. The difference is that there was only a total of
8
support guys up there. Here there is a whole company of them.
I do like hearing old stories though, growing up the old men used to
corner me and bore me to death, but now I really like hearing them.
And the
funny thing is that when I get old I will be able to corner some poor
kid and bore him with my stories.
Well if you happen to see a Vet on Friday say thank you and shake his
or her
hand. Ya'll have a good weekend. I wish I was there too.
Later
Dave
SCOUTS OUT
Down to 40 days until I leave Iraq. Things are going a little slow as
you could imagine. But some good things have come into the picture, I was
officially promoted to SGT on the 6th of November, and I have the blood stains to prove it. Also we will be doing real Scout stuff soon. Our mission with
the Iraqi Army is about up, we will be transitioning to a Quick Reaction
Force meaning if the IA get into trouble we will go bail them out. 4th
Infantry is on their way to us, we hand every thing over to those boys in
December. Almost a month until I leave.
I'm looking forward to coming home, my views have changed a lot and
I know I have changed a little- hopefully for the best. I can't wait
to see everyone when I return to the states.
Happy Holidays
Dave
SACOUTS OUT
Hello
every one.
Well the count down has started. I have less then 60 days now. I will
be coming back to the states in December sometime between the 16th and
25th. So I can't wait, I'll get to spend the holiday in Georgia with my
wife and dogs. Its the same for everyone else, we are all getting ready
to
re deploy, things equipment is being gathered up to be counted and stored
for the next unit. We have already transferred all our chemical equipment
to the 101st Airborne, 4th Infantry Division will start arriving soon.
4ID is from Fort Hood, TX and they are lucky enough to replace us, and
we are happy to step aside and let them. So along with the preparation
for the turn over, we have had to start working with the Iraqi Army again.
Holding there hand like we did when we first started. The lazy people
that they are, come to find out, they have been skipping patrol in the
early hours of the morning. So the MIT teams have had a lot of patrols
in the 2am to 4am time frame. All the work we have done is being redone.
Well
that's all I've got for now. Can't wait to see everyone in February when
I'm home in NY for my vacation.
Later
Dave
SCOUTS OUT
As of September 27
The
past week has been an avenger, 2 car bombs in our area, one a little to
close to home. 30 meters from and american, and a very good friend. He's
ok
though. The good part about this is the Iraqi soldier that did die in
the
explosion saw the signs of trouble and made the suicide bomber set
off the car bomb early. Now this is good for 2 reasons. First, it stopped
him
from hitting his original target which could have been a busy market or
a school house and second our IA (Iraqi Army) soldiers are doing a great
job and actually listening to what we say.
I re-enlisted
yesterday for 4 more years as a Military Police officer. My
platoon leader re-enlisted me and then I was thrown into the lake on
Prosperity. We now know that it does not have any blood poisoning agents.
Because I don't have any signs of blood poisoning. Rest ashore that if
I did I would have been treated and been just fine.
Side
note we were told today that first class mail stops December 1, slow
mail Nov 15th, so if you want to send me anything then you have little
over
month and half left.
Thanks for everything
Later
Dave
SCOUTS
OUT
This
week is a very sad week for my military family. We lost 3 men in, in a
manner that showed weakness. The people who try to harm us are known as
AIF (I can't remember what it means but they are the ones who set traps
for us and try to kill us). This week they scored 3 more men to their
record. The specifics don't matter, what matters is that these fine men
were in an Abrams tank when they were attacked. The 1st tank driver was
killed instantly, the 1st Sergeant of the company was the loader of the
tank, they pulled him out and he died 3 minutes from the hospital. The
3rd soldier was also a driver, he wasn't as lucky as the first driver.
Yes lucky. An Abrams is 65 tons of armor, hard cold steel and its one
hell of a machine. When the explosion went off, the steel around the drivers
hull crushed in to his face, so the guys that were there trying to pull
him out couldn't. They tried to talk to him through his head set they
wear on the tanks. All they heard was faint breathing and then it stopped.
We will have a service here for us to say good bye. Although I've been
lucky in our area, it just shows that our enemy will not stop just because
he sees tanks or Bradley coming. Tonight as I listen to a man play Amazing
Grace on a set of bag pipes, it reminds me of why I'm here. Even though
a US Soldier stands up and says "We are the greatest force around,
and you can't stop me," it just shows they can.
We suffered a great defeat this week but we will strike back in our own
way. As for the soldiers who passed, they will never be forgotten. To
the fallen soldiers, families we should all send thanks and prayers for
them. I know I will.
Hopefully next time I write I will have some pleasant news. Thank you
all for everything.
Later
DAVE
SCOUTS
OUT
Thanks Again
DAVE
SCOUTS OUT
Even better news is that I was given a return date, we start to get to count down now. A little over 90 working days, then what we call right seat left seat rides and Hand over to the replacing unit and then Home. As of right now or return date is 14th of January. I started the move to Prosperity so now half of my gear is there and half is here at Independence. We should be fully moved next week.
So some good news coming down the line. Hope very one is good.
Happy Labor Day
Later
Dave
SCOUTS OUT
Hello all,
A lot has been going on here the past few weeks. I've been studying
for my promotion board only 9 more days until the board. Missions upon
missions, and our Iraqi Army soldiers are getting better each day. Some
problems here and there but then again we weren't perfect when the US
Army was formed either. Members of the 10th Mountain Division have moved
into our
Base, but we still are here until at least another 30 days or so. Which
is a
good thing because there are a lot of people back at Prosperity (we
call them
FOBets because they never leave the fob), are out to screw us over.
One such
event has started already. We have to send 2 guys every couple days
to do
guard in one of the towers. Well there are more than enough people to
do
guard down there that don't do it already, but they want us. Things
here at
Independence are a little more relaxed then Prosperity. For example
we don't
salute officers here, most of us wear civilian cloths at night to sleep
in but we walk around in them until then, we walk around with out our
hats on or no uniform tops(just T-shirts and pants) or sleeves rolled
up. At Prosperity if they see any of that we get fried. There are people
over there that walk around just looking to get other soldiers in trouble.
One thing we got used to was walking around the FOB with out our weapons,
that is a no go in FOBet land. These people don't need weapons there,
its inside the International Zone and they never leave the place anyway.
Now there are some who do leave but majority of them never leave the
Green zone. And its those type that get us in trouble. Well enough of
that.
The weather is getting cooler now, a couple weeks ago it was 140 and
this week its been about 110. Now that might not seem like a difference
to the people from NY who are used to never going above 95. But here
110 is good, its like 90 at night or early morning so not bad. Another
month and we will be turning on heaters in the barracks.
Hope every ones summer is going well, I know mine is.
We should be getting our Official unofficial return dates here soon.
We know it won't be before Christmas but that's ok. I should be home
for my birthday though.
Talk to every one soon
Later
DAVE
SCOUTS OUT
I still miss home but not as much when I got here because I'm going home in 5 months. I think not only the training we have gotten keeps us safe but for me there's another reason. I think everyone should know the most important reason I'm making it through this deployment. That reason is my wife, Jessica. She is the most wonderful woman in the world. Next month we will celebrate our second wedding anniversary an ocean and a few countries away. I love you Jessica and I can't wait to see you when we get back to the States.
Later
DAVE
SCOUTS OUT
Hello every one. Just checking in to let every one know that I'm still alive. If you have read in the papers the past few days or watched it on tv you will know that once again Baghdad was hit by bombings.
Bomb
kills Baghdad recruits, memo flags troop cuts
If you read this article you will see Muthanna Airfield, or as we call it FOB Independence. Yes the very camp I live on. The south end is occupied by the Iraqi Army only. None of the US soldiers were there when this happened. We never go to that part of the base for that reason.
In better news, it is just getting hotter here and we still patrol 2-3 times a day. Night patrols aren't any better it feels like it just gets hotter. The packages that I have gotten from people lately have really helped things a long. I unfortunately took leave too early and will be missing some very important events in July, which I will get to see how it happened through pictures hopefully. I still think that I have been given the opportunity of my life to see new things and think long and hard on how grateful I am to be an American, and a proud soldier of our great country.
Keep the emails coming. I do like writing replies to people when I get the chance.
SCOUTS
OUT
Dave
As of June 28 2005
Hello
everyone,
Sorry I haven't written in a while, we have been quite busy. We are patrolling
a lot more now and in a new area everyday. Our sector is nice and westernized,
there are a couple of Christian churches there and people who speak English
pretty well. This area is also a little more dangerous, it made the paper
the other day when 4 car bombs killed 40 people. The thing about the 4th
car bomb was that a couple of kids found it and ran 2 miles to one of
our check points and showed the GIs where it was. It was defused and no
one was hurt thanks to those kids. The bad thing is that it was set 75-100
meters away from the first 2 which is right where the local Police and
the American Army would have been sitting. So those 2 kids saved more
lives then they know. I happened to be closer to that explosion then I
wanted to be.
Thanks for all the packages and letters. I'm trying to reply to emails
that I get but I'm busy and its taken me some time, I will do it when
I have some down time.
Have a good Summer
LATER
DAVE
SCOUTS OUT
Today
was a good day. We had some fun and no work. Today we had pig for
dinner. As we were tending to the pigs (from Jordan there are no pigs
in Iraq), everything felt really cool, almost like being home but no alcohol.(Not
allowed in Iraq either) But for those few hours things set in to place
and we were in another world, until four mortar rounds were launched about
100 or so meters west of us. They went screaming over our heads and landed
on Hifa Street. Then of course we went running to inform our chain of
command and started getting ready, but nothing happened and we went back
to the pigs. Later this evening, we all sat down and played cards and
dominos and talked about everything and nothing. No talk about work. As
it got dark I had to go and get dressed for my guard shift. I was in my
room when there was some explosions, running out side and seeing flares
I figured it was just the guys popping flares and flash bangs. This is
our way of having fire works. I get to my guard post and the Iraqi National
Guard guys are flipping out because there is a fire on the other side
of the wall. I guess the company went and put it out so all is good now.
Now its my time for bed.
Later
Dave
SCOUTS
OUT
