Inside The Wire

On this, my second deployment to Iraq, I've had the opportunity to operate in several different areas. Each location has brought with it a unique set of dynamics. It's also provided the chance to work with different sizes and ability levels of Iraqi Army (IA) forces.

Currently, we have an IA company assigned to our area of operations (AO). Because of leave rotations and shortfalls in manning, an IA company is usually the size of a Marine platoon (30–40).

On a tangent here, it's incredibly frustrating that the Iraqi government and our interagency support have not been able to establish a system to pay these soldiers using a direct deposit system like ours. Instead, the soldiers are paid here and then have to take leave to return home to give the money to their families. This inefficient program constantly drains the manning of the IA as well as our forces.   More

First, a much-needed apology for the delay in sending this letter. Several people have contacted my wife to ask whether I was finally able to slip the surly bonds of insanity that is the Bagram AMC Space-A experience.1 Those of you with your thinking caps securely in place can deduce from my salutation that, yes, I did indeed make it out of Afghanistan. However, I'm painfully aware that some of you had to wait nearly eight weeks to learn this, the whole while wondering where to put the "Where's Mike?" pushpin on your wall map; for that, I apologize. I can only offer the following recounting of my busy time since leaving Afghanistan – I hope it will prove a worthy and sufficient excuse.   More

The summer gear issue continues at the warehouse. At this point we've completed 80 percent of the summer gear push, and we've accomplished this one quarter ahead of schedule. Again, we did this with four guys at my place and with the same number out at the weapons facility that my roommate runs, both completely staffed by Navy personnel. We have been a man down this entire month due to our impending transition to the Ministry's warehouse facility. I sent my Chief over there to get that entire facility ready to go and to start driving the Afghan government officials to do something over at their place. It became apparent once Chief got out there that their civilian contractor mentors have been doing little more than taking tea and working half days and getting paid. There hasn't been any mentoring going on.   More

I'm writing you from a small plywood shack in eastern Afghanistan. 

Jalalabad is a great place to spend the winter; during summer on the other hand, it's a different story. The average temperature now is 114 degrees F…with humidity. Once the "summer" kicks in, the average temp will be in the 120-130 degree range. 

Evenings are wonderful. It drops to a cool 80 degrees. Just watch out for the cobras. We found a six-footer two days ago. Fortunately, these cobras are the non-venom spitting variety. At least I don't have to worry about landmines anymore. Did I mention JBad is my new home? After returning from my eye-opening trip to Kansas, the Marine Corps decided that Marines assigned to ETTs can no longer work the ANP mission. The Marine Corps does not like the idea of splitting up teams.   More

The past two weeks we've enjoyed some much-needed downtime, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. From Cape Verde we sailed north for four days toward Madeira Island. En route we began wrapping up our pending work for the Navy and focused on preparing for an upcoming inspection.

Funchal, Madeira, provided a much-needed opportunity to relax—this was our first real liberty port. We moored downtown and the heart of the city was only a five-minute walk. Cobblestone streets lined with little shops, sidewalk cafés, old churches and modern stores. An old European town with modern comforts. Yes, even a McDonald's.   More

The Surge is on, and we bump and roll our way out of the newest Combat Out Post in eastern Baghdad, ready for another exciting day of presence patrols and checking up on our IP buddies. Combat Out Post sounds pretty impressive, but really it's just a big abandoned building, full of rats the size of house cats and a top floor full of human excrement. We just added a ton of bottled water and MREs, a little concertina wire and some sandbags and a wall of concrete T-walls, and voilà! Instant Combat Out Post.

We're headed to one of our Iraqi Police Stations, since it's with these guys that we're going to bring safety and security to the peace-loving people of Baghdad. It's only a few blocks away, and don't you just love a short commute to work? Surely having no electricity and only being able to take a shower every 10 days is a small price to pay for such conveniences, right? Right.    More

I showed up to the airport, parted ways with the others in the shuttle – uplifted by an older lady's well wishes – and made it to the gate. BWI Airport is unique in that it's been a constant state of construction for about 15 years. It's amazing. I remember as a midshipman, seeing cranes everywhere during the mid-1990s. Just copy and paste the date and you got the same thing today. You gotta love it. 

This trip was different, though. LT Bill "Slow" Lehner was already at the gate. He asked how I was doing and I replied, "Living the nightmare." I was still in a state of disbelief. I was going into battle, didn't know the first thing about ground warfare – but, oh well, I guess that's how we fight wars today.   More