Oct 14th 2006

During the first few months in Iraq we fought nothing but boredom.  We had made our way through Iraq from Kuwait without incident.  Ending up at Camp Korean Village near the Syrian border.  It was said to probably be the safest place in Iraq.  This is a picture of Ar Rutba, the city just outside of KV.

3rd LAR C.I.C.

The guys that I had come to know better than anybody else were others who had volunteered to return to active duty after being discharged.  We called ourselves the CIC.  Civilians in Cammies.





The trip had taken us three days.  I was a scout, which meant that I was riding in the back of an LAV with my head and arms exposed to anything.  I feared being attacked from above as we would drive under overpasses on the highway. I thought that we were such an easy target for a grenade to be dropped in from the bridges above us.  I catch myself thinking of those first three days in country even still today sometimes when I lookiup at the bridges I drive under.

OCT 14th 2006

It has been a busy week, our first day out on patrol and red platoon had shots fired over their heads at the Phoenix-Mobile intersection.  We rushed to their position and blocked traffic on Phoenix.  As the cars began to stack up I deployed my scouts on orders from the Capt.  to begin searching cars for weapons that might have been used in the shooting.  With guns drawn I ordered the people in the first car to get out. As I watched the six men climb out of the small car I quickly realized that we did not speak the same language.  With the help of our translator, Louie, the search continued.  just as I was throwing blankets on to the street from the trunk I was told that we were moving out. I left the blankets on the street.