Henry's Web Log

I had the opportunity to recon some of our posts within Basra recently. It was a great opportunity to see what it’s really like outside of our COB, how the Iraqis are doing, and how the real soldiers are living!



In the photo below, you can make out the edge of the Euphrates river, Shat Al Arab, in the background.


In this shot, the cockpit glass is a little foggy, but you can see serveral homes and brick businesses in the dry dirt just yards away from the river.


Further away from downtown Basra, there were lots of mud huts. Shepards, canoes in the canals, dry fields, and a sparse lifestyle that could have been the same centuries ago.

I blogged previously about a fun run in Basra- well not to be outdone, ACI’s Laureen Fleming has entered herself, her husband and her best friend in a TRIATHALON!
Way to go, Laureen! And thanks to Anne Clelland, we enjoy your blog and the recent content you provided in Valley Business Front (it’s a real, honest-to-goodness print magazine that ran several pieces on blogging for business in its second edition). Now wouldn't you know it? Anne runs, too. Triathalons and any old whacked out race. She blogs on blogging, blogs about running, and runs on about other blogs. Now I've blogged too much.

Catch and Release: the Best Strategy for Sustainment
I've blogged before about how we call ourselves "Convoy Catchers" - carrying this analogy a little further, I'd like to apply it to a favorite pasttime: fishing!





Catch and Release, Convoy Style

• Land convoy as quickly as possible. Keeping exhausted drivers at the gate leads to bad AARs.


• Keep drivers on hand while removing the load. Avoid brusing the cargo or upsetting the protective gunner escorts.


• Release drivers back to the road only after they have been rested and fed. If necessary, firmly remind the CC of rest requirements.


• For missions so critical on time that connexes cannot be downloaded, emptied and returned the same night, download the connex, and put an empty back on; backhaul missions will eventually clear your yard of empty containers.


• In COBs, release convoys when medevac is green.


• Use one experienced NCOIC. Experienced NCOs make the mission easy by delegating jobs to each section with a ramp yard, MHE section, and customer waiting area.

Don't think I forgot about Valentine's Day! No way- I had a package in the mail to Lisa two weeks ago, plus called her and talked with the whole family. But it turns out, there was something from Uncle Sam waiting for me... at least this time, it wasn't a mobilization order!
I received promotion orders for Lieutenant Colonel! The Army holds a board annually to review the records of Majors who have completed the required military education, years in service and officer efficiency reports. I was notified in January that I had been selected for promotion. While I was in the Individual Ready Reserve, promotions happened in late September. For deployed reserve soldiers, however, Uncle Sam takes care of us and makes the promotion date mid-December, 2008!


We had a great ceremony yesterday, and I was very honored to have Major General Robert B. Newman, Jr. do the promotion. MG Newman is The Adjutant General (TAG) for the state of Virginia, and was here visiting the 226th Military Police unit from Manassas.

As one of the other Majors moved out, I slid into his old bunker. It was an upgrade, since he had a corner unit. There are still 30 of us in a tent, divided into “pods” of 5 soldiers each. But with this upgrade came a little more room. And I inherited a locking cabinet for my computer and Army gear!

To review my Bedouin life since October 5th, there was:

1. Camp McCrady bunk beds, 60 to a room for 1 week.


2. Camp McCrady upgrade, a single room 10’ x 10’for 1 week
   
3. Aberdeen, MD, the most comfortable spot in the journey, with a two-bedroom apartment for 2.5 weeks


4. Fort Lewis barracks, again crowded into open-bay barracks for 2.5 weeks.
   
5. Fort Lewis 10’ x 10’ room after the 287th main body rolled out, for 2.5 weeks.


6. Camp Adder CHU, 10’ x 10’ room for 1 week
   
7. Basra Stonehenge #1, 5’ x 7’ bunker for 1 month
   
8. Basra Stonehenge #2, 10’ x 7’ bunker for the time being.

What you see is my mattress and sleeping bag in the lower right. I have a poncho liner that I can pull down and have as a curtain, keeping in the heat and blocking some of the light and noise as others awake throughout the day or night (sometimes we sleep during the day after working a convoy through the night). On top of the bed is a heavy steel plate, sandbagged two layers deep. Then my clothes are laid out across the top of that. In the upper left, I have a small TV, also inherited with this unit. There’s no antenna or anything, but I do have a way to hook my iPhone into it and watch movies in a folding chair. Along the left edge is a “cot organizer” -- something I was alerted to bring by my brother Charles. It’s a lot more useful here with these bunkers than it would be in a CHU (steel container housing unit), because there’s just no built-in storage. Also, the corner unit brings with it more “shelf” space along the left edge of bricks, which I’ve covered with a red cloth I found.
On the bottom is a wonderful fuzzy rug that Lisa found for me- it's fantastic to take off my combat boots at the end of the day and be barefoot on this! If it weren't for Lisa finding this and mailing it across the globe to me, it would have been UNOBTAINABLE! Are you catching on that we logistician-types are scroungers?
What you can't see in this photo is the left-side partition wall, unfortunately. I have it COVERED with artwork from Eric, pictures of my family, and drawings from Ethan.




Looking at the front area, you see my locker (there’s only 3 of these in the tent- so I’m living large!). My big draw, though, is the well-traveled Pack 145 banner, just above my 3 t-shirts: Va Tech, Op Telic, and Bass Pro Shops. What’s Op Telic? It’s the British name for Operation Iraqi Freedom. They name their operations like we name hurricanes: there’s a big list of randomly generated names, and Telic came up for this one.

Under the t-shirts and against the locker is a care package. The post office makes these universal flat-rate boxes, and I'm the fortunate recipient of several from my family, plus a few "any soldier" boxes.

To the lower left, you can see my ballistic armor stand, with my vest resting on it. It is a woden cross, symbolic for Jesus helping carry my load! But they’re specially made to hold our helmets and 45-pound bullet-stopping armor, which we have to wear everywhere except the sleeping area. Why? British rules for force protection. In effect until April 1st, when the US officially takes over Basra. We’ve enjoyed remarkable peace here, but it wasn’t so quiet just 8 months ago. The surge helped, along with a lot of other factors. (Another future topic) Anyway, after April 1st, we’ll also be able to take apart these bunkers (Stonehenges).

What will living space Version 9.0 be? How many versions until we retire this product/soldier? the US is rapidly constructing CHUs all around, and our logistics element will likely move around on the COB (Coalition Operations Base) to accommodate new construction. I'll bet there are at least two more moves in store for me before October, plus redeployment back to the US for another week at Ft Lewis or some other base. The final version comes full circle though-- back to Christiansburg, Virginia!