So it is no secret that the US military is pulling out of the cities in Iraq. Starting tomorrow we are taking a back seat to the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) as they take the lead in securing and safeguarding their own shit-hole country. We really do not mind though. It is about time they did something productive. We only hope that they can actually pull it off, otherwise we are back to square one. Again, not a secret. If the ISF can pull it off, then that is one HUGE step closer to home.
I only wish the stupid liberal media would make its mind up. I was watching the Communist News Network yesterday, and they all but accused us of abandoning the Iraqi's. Really? Let's see, you bitch and whine (two traits of a liberal) about us leaving Iraq, then we take steps to do that, and you whine about that. So what exactly do they want? Here is a idea, how about you shut the hell up, get out of our way, and let us do our job so we CAN get out of here. Or report the WHOLE story. Like for instance, we are not abandoning the Iraqi's. We are here and on constant stand by waiting for the ISF to call us for help. When they do, we will send the proper response team. And they can alway ask for helicopter and UAV support. We have made that pefectly clear. In other words, we are still here, but rather than taking the offensive and clogging their already busy streets with our large trucks, we are sitting here waiting to support them in their time of need.
So today we were hanging out an an Iraqi Army (IA) COP (Combat Out Post) when we heard a lot of gunfire about 200 yards away. We sat around and watched but could not see anything. As the gunfire got worse (they were not shooting AT us) we decided we need to get in our trucks and see what was going on. When we got on the scene, there was an IA soldier slumped in a chair with a shit load of blood coming out of his head. Apparently he was sitting in a chair not paying attention to anything when this guy came around the corner and shot him three times in the head. Bad day for him but he is probably in a better place. The funny part was when their ambulance arrived, one of the medics actually brought his aid bag. I said to the guy too late for that shit, he needs a body bag. Of course they do not have any so we gave him one of ours (yes, we carry two in each truck). Anyway, another day in paradise.
It is official. It is 1:00 AM right now and the temperature is a nice 102 Degrees F. The days are getting much hotter now. Soon we will walk out of our nice air conditioned chu's and feel as if someone has turned on the worlds largest hair dryer, put it on retard hot and blasted it right in our face. It is such a joyous occasion to walk outside and for a couple of seconds you literally cannot breathe.
On the bright side we are going home in two months. I cannot believe that we have been here 10 months already, but we have. Soon we will be back to green grass and normal summer temps in the 80's in the day and the 60's in the evening. We might have to break out our winter clothes when we get home this summer, LOL.
So, after being here for almost a year, we have come to realize that the war here is not so much a war as it is a chance for Sergeants Majors and high ranking officers to impose their will, not upon the Iraqis, but us, US servicemen and women.
Some of the nice things that we do now are:
We have to wear reflective belts 24/7 when in our PT uniform. There are two things wrong with this.
1. In the day time, you really cannot see a guy wearing a gray t-shirt and black shorts, again, in the daytime? You need a reflective belt to avoid running us over when you are traveling down the road at a blistering 15 MPH?
2. How does a reflective belt work exactly in the daytime?
3. The shirt and the Army on the pants are ALREADY REFLECTIVE! What is the point spending hours of R&D time to make a uniform that can be seen at night, only to have to apply another layer of protection?
We are in a full salute zone. Guess those prima donna officers need to be affirmed that they are still officers. I don’t know.
AR 670-1 is still in full effect. We cannot cuff our sleeves, we have to have our boots bloused, and it is well over 100 degrees F here. Here is a thought, how about using a common sense approach to ensuring that heat casualties are prevented rather than enforce garrison rules that will increase the likelihood that we will have heat casualties.
No wearing of civilian clothes. Hmm, we have ID cards, and weapons. How about let us wear civilian clothes, and ensure that our ID card is visibly displayed and still require us to carry our weapon. If you see a dude in civilian clothes AND carrying a weapon, AND they have a DOD ID card that clearly states your branch of service as well as your rank, then there is still no confusion as to who the underpaid and overworked service member is and who the overpaid and underworked civilian contractor is. But then I guess that if you do not see the rank of the officer, they do not get their salute. Again, I don’t know.
FOB Police. Yeah, that is right. If you are driving around the FOB, and you are speeding or you do a California stop at a stop sign, the FOB police will pull you over and give you a ticket. And these are NOT MP’s, but rather shitbag soldiers that the units do not want to have to deal with, so they give them up to BDOC.
No sexual relations among non-married couples. And I do not mean the ones who are married, separated from their spouse and suddenly think that they are geographical bachelors. I am talking about single soldiers who meet someone they like and want to have sex. Married couples who are deployed together get to actually live in the same room together. So why can a couple of consenting adults engage in what comes natural to humans when they are attracted to each other. They sell condoms in the PX which means that the command knows that there is sex going on, so why make it illegal. I guess the condoms are only for the married couples that are deployed together.
No porn. Yes, that is right; we are not allowed to have pornography. Hah. This is a joke. The ever so efficient customs douche bags in Kuwait and here go to great lengths to ensure that we do not bring porn FROM Iraq to the US. They make no attempt what so ever to ensure that it is not brought INTO Iraq FROM the US. So, let’s see, we cannot engage in sexual relations, and we cannot have porn to masturbate with either. So what, we cannot pleasure ourselves either? Give me a break. You are not going to expect that someone is going to be sent to a shithole country for a year and NOT have some sort of sexual outlet. Not going to happen, I do not care who you are.
Formations. Yes, we have massive battalion formations every month. Wow, what an opportunity for the enemy. Good thing that they cannot see inside the FOB. But wait, who cares? Randomness happens.
When someone gets killed or seriously injured, they shut down our internet and IP phones, yet almost everyone here as a cell phone that they either brought from home or, like me, bought here. I understand the reason for this, but really? We have ways of talking to family members anyway. Stop the nonsense. Don’t turn off our internet.
No hands in the pockets. Yes, that is right, they make these pants we wear with pockets that are angled so it feel completely natural to put your hands in your pockets. In the US I can understand it. In a combat zone? Who really gives a shit?
Mandatory Safety Stand Down Day - Wooo hooo! Wow, so apparently there are some stupid ass motherfuckers who do not know how to do the right thing and they get themselves hurt. So they teach us nifty things like how to put on a seat belt, how to do proper EOF, how to use a variety of weapons (yeah, the ones that us Infantry guys use EVERY FREAKING DAY!). How to avoid becoming a heat casualty. DRINK WATER SUPID ASS! LAY OFF THE SODA'S!. Oh yeah, AND LET US UNBLOUSE OUR BOOTS AND CUFF OUR SLEEVES!
Urinalysis tests. That is right folks, we now have to take the beloved piss test. I guess there is such a HUGE drug problem here that they now have to test everyone, a few times a year! The piss test is so much fun. You get a small plastic bottle, get to carry it OVER YOUR HEAD so that everyone can see that you get to piss in a bottle, have an NCO follow you to the local port-a-john, and he gets to watch you pee. And by watch, I mean he stares at your dick while you pee. While most men have no issues with this, I do. I am gun shy. I have to use the stall in a public restroom to piss if someone else is in the bathroom, so imagine how much fun it is for me to spend two to four hours drinking a shit load of water and gatorade so I have to piss no matter if Mother Theresa was watching. Then of course I spend the rest of the day and evening pissing every 20 minutes, and I have a constant feeling that I have to pee all day as well. Good times for sure.
Well , I can go on and on but I think that you get the picture. Stop the stupidity and let us just do our job.
So, we finally wrapped up an operation to clear insurgents from a part of the city. This part of the city is the worst part. We literally went house to house in an area that is about 1 kilometer square and has a population of about 100,000, searched each and every house and business to see if they had anything they were not supposed to. They are allowed one AK-47 assault rifle with one magazine. No other weapons unless they are in the army or police. We nabbed a few bad guys in the operation.
Of course, this is the third time that this has been done in about two years. The previous operations obviously did not work since this is the third time we have done this. Still, I guess if we do this enough times they will figure it out and move on or move out.
The area that we were in is starting to heat up we understand. For the first six months that we were there it was very quiet. Nothing bad happening. But recently we have read about an increase in attacks in this area. So maybe what we are doing did work. They left Mosul and moved on to Kirkuk. Good times!