Light Painting

Liesl introduced several of us to something really cool you can do with cameras and chem lights and/or laser pointer lights. We have gone out a few times at night to do this and it's been a lot of fun! I am learning all kinds of cool things here and it breaks up the day-to-day boredom.

Flowers, Trees, grass, etc...

This is me blowing out candles on a birthday cake

A guy trying to get into the back of our vehicle, little explosion to the left of him

When I got promoted, this is me and a Marine Warrant Officer

Liesl and me posing with "Army Strong"

Promotion

I am a Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) now!!!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what the difference between aWO1 and CW2 are, let me explain. A WO1 (Warrant Officer 1) is appointed by the Secretary of the Army and a CW2 is a commissioned officer appointed by the President of the United States. So there is a lot more responsibilities as a CW2, plus you are expected to know a lot more. Hmmmm..... sure, ok.

Me and my soldier, SGT Thurman, before promotion.

My promotion formation

LTC Morris was so nervous about putting the new rank on me because it goes on our chest, it's in the center of our boobs.... HAHAHAHA

Abraham's Oasis

According to Arab legend, Abraham (patriarch of the Hebrew Bible, the Quran and other Islamic writings) visited this oasis at Al Asad on his journey from Ur to Haran. According to the legend, Abraham stopped at the oasis, drank from the water and bathed himself. He and his family camped here for a short time before moving on to Haran.

The Arabic name of the village near the oasis is Eyen Al Asad, which means Spring of the Lion. The name was derived from a time when this area was a wilderness with all kinds of wild animals to include lions.

The oasis had neither settlement nor village before 1920 other than the occasional occupation by Bedouins who passed through with their flocks and stopped for water. Over the centuries, most people in the region lived much closer to the Euphrates River, along it's banks or flood plains. They preferred to stay close to the lush and trade route that the river naturally provided.

A friend took me to the Oasis on one of my parts runs to Al Asad. No one knows for sure if Abraham truly stopped here, but it is a protected area and the Iraqi's and Americans treat it as a sacred piece of land.

Having Fun

These are just random pictures of me and friends...

Teva and Nani

Here are pictures of my 2 little ladies, well one isn't so little anymore. Teva is my 5 year old Australian Shepard, I love her so much and miss her even more! Nani is a 6 onth old 1/2 lab, 1/2 Australian Shepard. She's going to be a monster!!! I've only seen her during the first month of her life. My friend is keeping both of them and training Nani. I'm kind of happy about missing the whole puppy stage, I don't want all my stuff chewed up.

A Little Sight Seeing in Iraq

On one of my trips to Al Asad for our parts/supplies run a friend took me around the base to see the sites. It was a fun afternoon being able to see different things and hanging out with people I don't get to see that often.

Signs don't mean anything to me...

These are Iraqi planes

This is overlooking the base

DB wanted to fire off a few rounds...

Sept 7th Bombing

The morning of Sept 7th, around 7:45, I was getting ready to leave for work when a VERY loud explosion went off. My little combat trailer shook like we were having a huge earthquake, these trailers are great to live in, but not so great for things like earthquakes, bombs, etc. So after the explosion I went outside to see if there would be anymore or if the sirens would go off letting us know that we were under attack. None of that happened so I grabbed my stuff and started walking to work, it's about 1/4 mile away. There was however a lot of gunfire, I guess the bad guys and the Iraqi police were in a firefight. This was all going on less than a 1/2 mile away, the Iraqi Police base is right next to ours, and the explosion was right outside our perimeter.

What I saw on my way to work was shocking!!! I don't ever recall in ANY training I have given or have sat through that said to get up on rooftops with a camera and start taking pictures of the explosions and/or gunfights going on around you. I do remember something about making yourself a small target so that you will be harder to kill. I realize that all this was not going on on our base, but it was VERY close and I'm sure those bad guys with the large guns can see people standing on rooftops less than 1/2 mile away. What is wrong with people?!? I am so glad I'm surrounded by a bunch of tourist with cameras, and to think I was actually in the middle of a war zone.

Here is the story on the suicide bombing....

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/07/iraq.car.bomb/index/html

Mom and Melissa, can you please print it for me/us for our books. Thank you!

On the Road...

Part of my job is to go pick up parts and supplies. So when we go we convoy to these other locations, it's usually 4-8 trucks that go. Yes mom, we are safe! Whenever we pass vehicles that are parked on the side of the road, the 1st vehicle will get over the radio and tell all the other trucks in our convoy so that way we can keep an eye on them to make sure it's not a bad guy. So you'll hear something like "Parked vehicle on the left shoulder of the road 100 meters to the front." No big deal. They also do this for people.


So the other night this is what I heard...
"100 meters up on the left side, BEDSHEET walking"

I laughed so hard!!!! No wonder they want to shoot us half the time!

Also, my friend Liesl's mom is the greatest! She wrote in a letter to her "OMA." You all know what OMG stands for, well since we are over here it's only right to say Oh My Allah.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I know this is a little late, for those of you who don't know, my birthday was on Aug 29th. I had to wait to celebrate my birthday for 2 reasons, first my mom's package didn't come before my birthday and second I was on the road on my birthday. But hey, at least I got to drive through the beautiful countryside of Iraq on my bday... what more could I ask for?!? My mom's box finally came and the fun began...

Mom sent me a pinata... he was scary!!!

This little guy is now named DB (deployment bear), he will go everywhere with me

ALL my gifts... THANK YOU MOM!!!

Notice the 'Exit' sign... It's a good thing they make us put that by our doors! These rooms are so big I don't think I could figure out where to exit!!!

My 2 friends I celebrated with... Liesl and SFC Manzanares
Mom, thank you so much for always thinking of me and making holidays (yes, my birthday is a holiday, duh!) special for me no matter where I am! I'm so glad I have friends that will 'play' with me and make things like birthdays fun when they are usually forgotten in places like this. I am very lucky to have the friends and family that I do! I love you all!!!