Leaving forever.

[Dis]

whores are great. just keep your head covered. both heads

[Straybow]

Happiness is a warm gun!

[Dis]

which gun?

[Dinner]

Ok, they've given me the final virdict so it looks like I will be going to northern Iraq. The way the military has drawn the control lines about 1/3 of the Sunni triangle (where all the fighting has been occuring) as well as all of the Kurdish areas. I've gone out and bought several books about Iraq's history as well as an English-Arabic phrase book and a few books upon Islamic fundimentalism and general Arabian culture.

It looks like I'll be shipping out for Fort Carson, Colorado this Sunday where I'll be doing predeployment training then I'll get to come home for Thanksgiving after which they're sending me to Fort Hunter-Liggett, California for three weeks. I'll get leave to see my family over Christmas and New Year's then we'll all be shipped out to Iraq on the 6th. Hopefully, we'll be flying through England or Germany and if I'm lucky we'll get a day or two off in Europe.

[Space05us]

Good Luck Oerdin, keep your helmet on and your head low, 'cause you're going to have to come back and give us stories!

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Ok, they've given me the final virdict so it looks like I will be going to northern Iraq. The way the military has drawn the control lines about 1/3 of the Sunni triangle (where all the fighting has been occuring) as well as all of the Kurdish areas. I've gone out and bought several books about Iraq's history as well as an English-Arabic phrase book and a few books upon Islamic fundimentalism and general Arabian culture.

It looks like I'll be shipping out for Fort Carson, Colorado this Sunday where I'll be doing predeployment training then I'll get to come home for Thanksgiving after which they're sending me to Fort Hunter-Liggett, California for three weeks. I'll get leave to see my family over Christmas and New Year's then we'll all be shipped out to Iraq on the 6th. Hopefully, we'll be flying through England or Germany and if I'm lucky we'll get a day or two off in Europe.

You're troop movements aren't classified??????

Good luck and stay safe.

ACK!

[Dinner]

I'm going to be buying a new Dell Lap Top computer from Kaak soon. I believe I will be able to get a satellite internet connection on one of the military bases in Iraq so I should be able to provide regular updates. I won't know for sure until I land in Iraq though.

I spent the last few days driving around my home state of California. I guess I'm trying to take everything in one last time so I'll have a clear enough memory of the place to last me a year and a half. I kind of feel like someone who's going to prison and who's spending his last moments of freedom trying to do everything he wanted to do for the next few years. Still, I had fun.

Friday I drove from San Diego to Sacramento and then Sunday evening I drove out to Napa. I spent all day Monday touring the valley and tasting various wineries I hadn't visited in three or four years. There is just something so peaceful and bucolic about California's wine country. It's as if the rolling hills, the oak trees, the numerous streams, the wild deer & turkeys, the artesian cheese maker's shops, and the endless vineyards all merge together to make a perfect whole. Well, it wasn’t that perfect for my wallet because I ended up spending around $500 on bottles of wine, cuts of fine cheeses, and aged meats but I think it was worth it. On the upside I’ll be able to lay down the reds I bought for at least a year and a half until I get back to the US.

I spent Tuesday walking around the entire city of San Francisco. I’d been there numerous times before but I felt like I'd see more of the real city if I experienced it on foot. A Dim Sum breakfast in Chinatown, lunch in Little Italy (I'm still trying to figure out what type of pasta I eat; it was great), an oyster dinner down by the pier, and in between I got to hit up all the major tourist haunts as well as Golden Gate Park and I saw the Degas exhibition they had showing at one of the museums. I guess it wasn’t entirely on foot because I squeezed in a ride on one of the city’s famous cable cars near the end. All in all not a bad day.

I spent last night and the first half of today visiting with an old college friend in Santa Barbara. We made one last round at the old college drinking hangouts and went flying for about an hour off the coast. I hadn't kept current on my pilot's license so it felt good to be back in control of an airplane again. Now, I’m going through all of my military gear and trying to make sure I have everything on the packing list. I forgot how hard it is to pack tightly so that it will all fit into just two duffle bags.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Tuberski
You're troop movements aren't classified??????

Good luck and stay safe.

ACK!

Technically I'm sure they are but I really don't care. The Army has classified everything and as a practical result people feel as if nothing is classified if you get my meaning. Maybe if they used it a bit more sparingly and upon fewer irrelevant things then people would feel differently. As it is I intend to keep a blog of my experiences in Iraq and I am certain the powers that be would be frothing at the mouth to know that someone would dare try to *gasp* give an honest and unfiltered soldier’s view from the ground.

Was that a shameless enough plug for my upcoming blog?

[Tuberski]

Well, you aren't saying "We're taking United Airlines flight 974 to New York, then British Airways flight 554 to London."

So I guess it's okay.



ACK!

[KrazyHorse]

If you write it, I'll read it. Good luck. Don't get hurt.

[Space05us]

just remember Oerdin, even if you're not christian they'll never take a bible from your arms. its been proven dozens of times throughout history. So if you need too, keep entries in the margin.

[Ned]

Good luck again, Oerdin.

On the news just now, I heard that Rumsfeld signed an order to call up 30,000 more reservists and that the Marines would replace the 101st in Northern Iraq. The Army callup is said to be light infrantry that may be more skilled in "police" duty rather than in "tank" warfare.

The order also said that the new plans will result in a reduction in US troop strength in Iraq by 20,000 by next May.

[Dinner]

The extra 30k is to cover the 30k the Turks were going to send to Iraq but whom our hand picked "puppet" government refused to let in to Iraq. I guess the Iraqi Provisional Council isn't as big of an American running dog lackey as some people around here have been claiming.

[MichaeltheGreat]

At least not when it comes to love of the Turks. Good luck and hooah!

[Chemical Ollie]

Northern Iraq? It must really suck to be sent there. Do they serve pork at the cantina? Well Kurdistan might be OK, even friendly, but just a bit south is a cluster****.

A Swedish journalist recently spent a week with an American infantry company and said they could trust no one when patrolling. The company had suffered 10% casualties in dead and wounded so far during their deployment. According to an estimate MtG posted in another thread, that figure is about the average for troops of the line in Iraq. Don't come home as a bitter cripple to become a member of another lost generation.