Well, this will be my last big e-mail before I go back to the States. If things go according to plan, I *should* leave this base on the 29th, and will get back to Fort Lewis sometime between the first and third of June. When we get back, we're supposed to get one day off, then work eight straight days (including
weekends) before starting our recovery schedule.
Some of you may have seen it in the news, but Shihad got her prosthetic legs. We got her flown to Baghdad to see some specialty doctors in the International Zone, and she came back three days later with prosthetic legs, a walker, and some canes. Just three days after that, she walked to school. Her family was elated, of course, but everyone in the neighborhood was excited and wanted to see her walk, too. We brought her back to her house late at night, and even the very next morning she was out and about, walking in the street.
We handed our JCOP over to the Iraqis. No US forces wanted to take it over, so now it's just shared between the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police. This was when it really hit me that we were almost done. Before that, it was still just work as normal, nothing much different. Then we took our last JCOP shift, and while we were there others in the company were moving equipment out to send back to the States. While my squad was on guard, the Iraqi Army showed up and started taking over their portion. Without any warning, Iraqis started climbing up the guard towers, surprising my men and I. We didn't know if we were going to be sharing with them for a few days, to show them the ropes, or if they were relieving us right then. Turns out, we were getting relieved right away, and weren't even going to stay for another fifteen minutes.
Just a few days later we did our right-seat-ride with our replacement unit. We showed them around the area, and answered whatever questions they wanted. When we took them by one of the schools, we noticed that in the last couple of days there had been an enormous amount of work done to repair it. I have pictures I can show once I get back, but it's pretty amazing how much they did in a couple of days, compared to what what done over the last six months. We also took them to visit Shihad, and we learned that the Iraqi Surgeon General had tasked the Director of Health for the Diyala province to look after her and ensure she received the necessary follow-on medical care. Needless to say, her family was very sad to learn we were leaving, and wouldn't be able to visit or help out any more.
Our interpreter is also sad to see us go. We've been trying to get his immigrant visa approved, but it's been a slow, bureaucratic process. We finally have absolutely all the paperwork in, so now it's just a waiting game. It could easily be a few months, though. He's being passed on to a Psychological Operations unit, so his job's going to be a lot easier over the new months.
That'll at least give him a little bit of a break.
Based on the assumption that I wouldn't mind, I got placed back on the gate-guard detail for my last two weeks in Iraq. It still sucks, but it's comforting knowing that as soon as I'm done I start my travel back to the States. It's also nice that I don't have to be a part of any of the details to get the unit prepped for movement. I don't have to load any shipping containers, I don't have to prep the vehicles, I don't have to go to formations or inspections. I just have to do my guard shift.
Another perk is that the guard shift will get me home just a couple of days later than the rest of the unit. I *shouldn't* fly out of Kuwait till the first or second of June, which means I get all of the financial benefits of being deployed for the entire month of June. It also means I don't have to deal with the backlash from the first wave of DUIs and no-shows at work, and don't have to deal the large-scale pomp that will inevitably occur.
Weather-wise, most of May was pretty mild. For most of the month, we had regular dust storms and occasional thunderstorms which kept things pretty cool. They also made sure everything was quite dusty, too. I think I described them in my last update about Iraq. This week, however, summer seems to have reared its head. The last couple of days got over 120 degrees by ten in the morning. Today for example, it was 124 in the shade, for the better part of six hours. In direct sunlight the thermometer read 141 degrees. Roasty toasty indeed.
Cheers,
Brian |
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