Charlie's Weblog

My wife Mary Kate sent some pictures wearing a scarf she got from Iraq. Obviously, I'll be going STRAIGHT home when my mid-tour leave hits in February!

Our commander, COL Martin, was here this week from Abu. While here, he presided over the promotion ceremony and the section was pleased to see SGT Matthews get her stripes. She had been working as a corporal and non-commissioned officer in charge of our section and feels she will be able to get more done with more weight on her shoulders. Yesterday we also got our first hint of rain - probably less than a quarter-inch, but well received after four months without. Lightening preceeded the precipitation which made many check to see the distance to the nearest overhead bunker before we realized it was just the weather.

Halloween cards arrived from Mother and from the Virginia Bass'! Eric notes that the Bass house has the scariest treats and Ethan drew a face scary enough to drive any bad guys away. The section still has candies in a plastic pumpkin head but plans are well underway to decorate for the Nativity season. Mary Kate is sending some things so we can have a more Christmas feel around here. She joins me - as all the Bass' are sure to do - in expressing condolences to the Guin family at the loss of Dave's mother in the wake of a decidedly unpleasant hurricane season.

In this photo of the mental health section one may see this author with SPC Goode, SGT Matthews (our NCOIC), MAJ Williams and 1LT Hoffman (psychiatric nurses), CPT Lee, SGT Lesher and SPC Preston in the too-cool shades.

Hope all is well in your corners of the world,

Charles

Eid al-Fitr was Tuesday. The day marks the end of the Ramadan period of fasting and was punctuated with the release of 500 detainees from Abu Ghraib. These folks promise not to be bad again. Time will tell. Fortunately, the review board decided not to release the more violent detainees.

Tuesday there was a concert on the stage here at Camp Bucca - some comedy and some music acts. They tried, but after about a half-hour it was high time to leave and go to the All Saints Day communion service.

Staffing continues to be a concern with the section being run by CPL Matthews and me. The MP, 1LT Zablenski has been canvassing the post and enjoys this role. SPC Goode left on a four-day pass two weeks ago and the company seems unable to secure a seat for her on convoys from Kuwait. MAJ Williams and SPC Preston are on their mid-tour leaves and 1LT Hoffman is down for three days after some minor corrective surgery on his foot. Still, the section takes care of business and we continue to hold the line.

With all the barbed wire around here, it seemed a good idea (well, an idea, anyway) to make a barbed wire collection. Grandfather Morgan had one in his office from his ranching days on the L-7 and it's perhaps one of those things Texans do that the folks from this New York unit just don't understand. My collection has twelve strands that each seem to be of unique manufacture. There are eight "strand" types (with three being double-strand) and four are "razor/concertina" types. Bucca Barbs is up for grabs if anyone wants to hang it back home, but it's not the sort of thing one sends as a Christmas gift.

Hope things are calm back in the States.

Charles

Cool blog! Thanks for getting the pictures to behave. Yes, the router for the hospital came in last week and things have been going well with something called a V-Sat connection to the Internet.

We have an addition to the staff here at the clinic, which is a relief. There are ordinarily six on my staff at the TIF to work with detainees - two psych nurses, three techs and me. A nurse and a tech are on leave and another tech is on pass. The other nurse had foot surgery today and is going to be convalescent for a few days. So, my NCOIC and I are joined by 1LT Barry Zablenski. He's on loan to us from the 785th MPs and, due to his master's degree and doctoral work in counseling it is befitting that he do something more mental-health-flavored than being an MP. The position of "medical liasion" is new and unique, so we're creating an answer to a need. He's going to patrol (lurk, really) around the compound and pounce on anybody who looks remotely glum, shake them violently and shout, "How do you feel?!?"

Really, he's a fine soldier and it's helping me out a lot that he's going to do this and put himself in more places that it's possible for me to do. Most of the people who need mental health services won't go in until they are given a direct invitation.

Hope y'all are doing okay back in the States. The site www.timeanddate.com tells me it's 110 days until the Army lets me see my wife again on my mid-tour leave.

Love,

Charles