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lors and marines have a fever and the only prescription a pint of guinness stout is the way to cure this malady we order our pint and extras after the first one goes down it s a balderdash as we mix and match the rest of the beers on our table the last seven hours of the flight went much better than the first eight saturday morning landing in cherry point north carolina the cheers and clapping bring the plane to a roaring good touchdown flight crew laughing and clapping right along with us after un loading and loading our gear several more times on the flight line we board buses for the hour ride to camp lejune families are there waiting we coordinate to make sure new dads get off the buses first and there we are exhausted soaked in sweat and smelling up the bus like a petting zoo nobody cares buses roll up wives are holding their cheeks crying and trembling in their beautiful summer dresses dads rush off first with laughing and running children jumping into their arms moms join the fray a few parents make it too and they stand patiently in the background waiting their turn and waving little american flags i hang back a minute or so just taking it all in a rockwellian moment comes to life outside my little bus window and right here right now all somehow seems right in the world a few of the guys will wait before they re unite with family some are from as far away as washington state and guam tim rented a cabana on the beach for saturday and sunday night i finally made it out sunday morning after finishing some paperwork dump the daybag ditch the uniform and grab a beer it s shorts flip flops and an immediate walk up the berm onto the beach and the beach is where i stayed the entire day the cabana was just a beer outpost because i have so much to catch up on every second savored and that magnificent fishing trawler is only the beginning posted by carl at 2 09 pm 18 comments wednesday september 19 2007 camp virginia kuwait 25 by 100 foot hut the stench was overpowering by midday the smell of old crusty uniforms in desperate need of a change out and stacked bodies in need of a scrub so i sat outside and read james herriot until the heat got to me then re entered when forced with few other choices we were at the taquaddum a dacg arrival departure air control group terminal and it was 20 hours and counting no sure thing when flying out on your way home we were on terminal standby the hut is the staging area and occasional place of permanent residence when one has nowhere else to go the hut is too small the hut smells like a hundred years of stink the hut is all we have the surgical team a smattering of fallujah corpsman and a company of marines are all staking a small piece of real estate with scattered cots and chairs the hut filled quickly in the morning and by 9 am all seats were taken as we watched another group of marines come and go when the seats and cots were all doubled up bodies started filling the floor and required deft footwork to extract yourself in out foosball table just became a zipcode for two marines sleeping under it we all survived three mre s and a few sneaks out to the chowhall dfac and we finally had our flight to kuwait on a c 130 after a six hour transit that included loading the bags unloading the bags re loading the bags head count repeat x2 we made it to camp virginia kuwait 36 hours ago tomorrow customs in the afternoon and a flight home very early saturday morning counting on a layover in shannon ireland for a pint posted by carl at 6 49 pm 16 comments thursday september 13 2007 detonation the first one was different not in the way you would expect it s not as if the first vbied scared the religion into me and all the rest got easier quite the opposite in fact with that first concussion wave dissipating what i was about to realize was that as the reverberations faded it was only the beginning of the experience of course i knew i was going to anbar your gonna see some bad shit thought i was ready for it standard issue bring it on attitude check the false bravado fell to the wayside as soon as those casualties started pouring in i was quickly reminded that talking the talk has nothing to do with walking the walk you just can t predict how you will react until the bodies hit the floor i think it s because they were right there just didn t expect that just didn t think they could drive so close to the base or penetrate right into the market like that these suicidal men were driving trucks packed with explosives and chlorine and hitting very close to home way too close announcing their martyrdom and deaths like a lion announces his domain over the serengeti to them collateral damage isn t just a byproduct of their wickedness it s the goal the aftermath rolling into charlie medical with that first vbied was a shock to the system with each subsequent blast including those occasional unannounced controlled detonations my feelings of impending dread only got worse as time went on because then i knew what could happen because then i knew it could be a very shitty day because with each blast i immediately entered the realm of the unknown casualties oftentimes innocent civilians started rolling in within minutes how many was the first wave going to bring two ten how many waves were there going to be how long would they continue to pour in did the checkpoint get lucky and spot him before he got close to anyone else and trigger the vbied early when he panicked it was 3 am and i was wide awake the surgical team has moved out of ramadi and is marking time on a small army forward operating base fob awaiting a plane ride to kuwait an army artillery battery only 3 4 kilometers away is keeping me awake with the steady drumbeat of outgoing fires it started on the eve of september 11th and the nightly barrage has continued right into ramadan i have no idea what units they are supporting or where they are firing at i m no longer in the know just unclaimed baggage spinning around the i would like to go home now carousel but the concussion of outgoing artillery is similar to a vbied explosion to close for comfort i know this because it hurts deep down inside when the first volley catches me by surprise i keep hitting alert mode wondering where the casualties will come from i m not sure if i can explain how it feels it s just a deep twinge of pain in my chest developed over months of listening to detonations and dreading what comes next posted by carl at 9 48 pm 2 comments sheikh sattar assassination visionary loyalist genuine leader these are just a few of the adjectives i have heard used to describe the man who was responsible for bringing peace to ramadi more than any other sheikh sattar was the mastermind and visionary leader who created and lead the way to the sunni awakening and was a top official of the anbar salvation council uniting 42 clans together tired of seeing his fellow countrymen brutalized intimidated and murdered by al qaeda and other insurgent forces sheikh sattar last year was the most influential leader in all of anbar in bringing cooperation with u s authorities and providing personnel and winning the confidence of the local populace to secure the city of ramadi with hundreds of young men eager to join the immature and woefully small iraqi police force at the time with his residence less than a kilometer from the ar ramadi back gate sheikh sattar was continually attempting to build relationships with us by inviting units to his compound for afternoon tea and dinner our relationship was open and friendly one of the surgical team members was just there last week on the same day sheikh sattar was in al asad meeting with president bush tonight i m saddened to write that he was assassinated a few hours ago just outside his compound by an ied blast as the surgical team sits here in taquaddum and counts down the few remaining days left in anbar it s been a somber mood as we talk about all the good he has done and the personal loss felt sheikh sattar s death is going to be a blow to the progress made in ramadi and may initially shake the confidence of the city and it s officials on the other hand we sincerely hope that his death only further resolves the rest of the city and officials to double their resolve to eradicate ramadi of it s violence and instability in the face of this shameful murder http afp google com article aleqm5jomov3jqgmonluqkixk3sa1kujwg http afp google com article aleqm5ibcqfcaout2umb5_vjff3c8zqviq posted by carl at 11 48 am 4 comments friday september 7 2007 anbar meet the ospreys loitering in the chow hall last night i was sitting with the casevac casualty evacuation corpsmen stationed here in taquaddum having worked with them over the past seven months i ve never had the opportunity to sit and actually hold down a conversation until tonight flying missions with them was always a rushed affair filled with yelling report over the roar of prop wash and vague hand signals in the helo while we transported critically ill patients to level iii hospitals when i first arrived in anbar in february mission breakdown followed these general rules daytime medevac was handled by the marine corps and a pair of h 46 helicopters with two casevac corpsmen while night missions were handled by the army aeromedical blackhawks and a flight medic however i noticed over the past month that medevac missions called during the day were becoming more of an army show the invite is open to whoever shows up at the door but only blackhawks were coming to party i made a mental note of it but wasn t quite sure what to make of the change another clue was the marines we found at our medical helo pad in ramadi last week taking measurements so last night over pie and coffee they told me the army has completely taken over casevac and medevac duties in iraq the casevac corpsmen i was sitting with said they ve essentially been unemployed for the past three weeks question is why turns out this is all related to the impending mission changes of the marine corps h 46 as they are being replaced soon with the mv 22 osprey army h 47 chinooks have moved into taquaddum and al asad is finalizing preparations for 10 mv 22s out of new river marine corps air station with over 19 years of research and development under it s collective belt the mv 22 tilt rotor osprey enters the fray in anbar currently in transit on one of the navy s helicopter assault carriers the mv 22 is slated to begin operations in western anbar before the close of september http www cnn com 2007 us 04 13 osprey index html http www defensetech org archives 003429 html considered a superior replacement to the marine corps h 46 dual rotor medium lift helicopters 5 mv 22 squadrons have been stood up coast to coast and are gearing up for deployments the cornerstone of marine assault support for over 40 years the h 46 will be completely replaced by the mv 22 by 2018 landing like a helicopter but flying like a prop plane the mv 22 is a one of a kind production aircraft jointly developed by boeing out of philadelphia and bell texron out of ft worth texas http www fas org man dod 101 sys ac v 22 htm http en wikipedia org wiki v 22_osprey entering it s first real world mission the osprey comes with a long history of controversy and teeth gnashing in washington and the pentagon believe it or not then secretary of defense dick cheney under the bush senior administration spent his entire secdef tenure trying to drive a stake through the heart of this program riddled with cost over runs and legitimate questions of safety engineering feasibility and actual tactical usefulness the osprey program was shut down by cheney only to be revived again by the clinton administration initial concerns center around several issues that may come into play as the osprey takes over assault support for combat operations in iraq the prop wash during landing is significant the marine corps needs the osprey to respond to point of injury areas and medically evacuate casualties from the firefight wash from the propellers will be an issue here in ramadi we didn t have the luxury of a concrete landing pad just a good old fashioned improved landing zone with dirt and rocks the first time an osprey lands at charlie medical will be an interesting event to say the least at over 200mph the osprey will be fast but lacks the ability to defend itself instead of having machine gunners facing out either side of the aircraft like the blackhawks and h 46 the plans are to have one gunner located on the rear ramp area heat signatures are higher compared to other helicopters speed maneuverability and countermeasures will need to offset this liability helicopters are crucial to the mission because they are just plain useful in so many scenarios running supplies dropping off troops almost anywhere they are needed aircraft personnel recovery trap ecetera the osprey is touted to be better at everything taking marine corps combat operations to new paradigms of tactical ability deploying with a marine expeditionary unit the osprey will need to be able to land and take off from every naval vessel afloat or it s not going to be operationally useful it has yet to prove itself in the arena the marine corps performs at it s best land and support a mess of triggerpullers on the beachhead and send them forth in an overwhelming tempo of speed and firepower my thoughts are a mix of scepticism and a genuine desire to see the osprey come into anbar and be a resounding success for the osprey to land in anbar and prove incapable of supporting the mission is a thought i just don t want to entertain we have sacrificed 23 lives billions of dollars decades of research and development and pinned the marine corps entire forseeable future on this one aircraft the buy in of the mv 22 isn t just big deal it s going to define the marine corps for the next four decades posted by carl at 9 50 pm 10 comments ramadan up ticks and stage left exits ramadan the holiest month of islam is upon us following a lunar calendar that varies slightly from year to year ramadan the ninth lunar cycle month will begin around september 12th consistently over the past few years the preceeding period and ramadan have been markers of significant insurgent activity and concentrated attacks on coalition units ramadan and it s implications for our current benchmarks of success are so intertwined general odierno has been quoted in the past few days stating this year s ramadan will forecast our ability to begin troop reductions currently at 155 000 troops with the surge forces http afp google com article aleqm5hryme1tsn ae9yt35fqrxarztb4g in ramadi we have seen a slight up tick in activity in and around the city combat engineers running multiple missions have found an increase in ied activity yet again running four missions simultaneously three came into significant contact with ied emplacements http acutepolitics blogspot com http badgersforward blogspot com ramada...